Easy Parker House Rolls (no-knead recipe)
This easy recipe for soft rolls requires no kneading at all, only mixing and resting time. They're buttery, freeze very well and double as dinner rolls and sandwich buns.
Servings 30 pieces
Ingredients
- 5 cups all-purpose or bread flour
- 2 ¼ teaspoons dry yeast 0.25 ounce (7g) packet
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 cup warm water tepid, not hot
- ½ cup warm milk lukewarm, not hot
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted and warm
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- extra melted butter to brush over the batter
- extra flour for dusting and rolling
Instructions
- In a bowl, put 3 ½ cups of the total amount of flour. Make a hole in the middle and add 2 ¼ teaspoons dry yeast, ¼ cup sugar, and half of the water, ½ cup. With a spoon or spatula, mix until everything is moistened.
- Add 1 ½ teaspoons salt, ½ cup unsalted butter, melted, and 2 eggs. Mix well.
- Add the remaining 1 ½ cups flour (in 2 parts for easier mixing), ½ cup warm milk and remaining ½ cup water, and stir or mix everything energetically until it's well integrated, with no visible egg white left, and looks like a thick paste similar to drop scones or very thick pancake batter. It is a wet batter.
- Leave the dough in the bowl and brush with top with extra melted butter, covering the entire surface.
- Cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 hour to 1 ½ hours.
- Generously dust a table or surface with extra flour and dump the dough. Flatten it into a rectangle and flour the top. Roll with a rolling pin until it’s no more than a ½ inch (about 1 cm)
- Cut rounds with a cookie cutter.
Forming the rolls:
- For traditional Parker House rolls: take a round of dough, stretch from both ends a little to make it slightly oval, dip half in melted butter, fold in the middle, and put on buttered baking sheets with the butter side up.
- For sandwiches: put on buttered pans, put the rounds of dough. Brush them with melted butter.
- In both cases, cover and leave to rise for about 30 minutes, until they puff up a bit.
- Meanwhile, turn the oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown and dry.
Notes
Butter: These are buttery rolls, so if you have a premium butter, use it. Unsalted is my favorite as I like to control how much salt goes into my bread.
Yeast: I use dry (instant or active dry) and add it directly to the flour. It's the easiest way. But fresh also works. For fresh yeast, use triple the amount (21g in this case)
Water-milk: you can use all water (from the tap or use bottled water if you like) or you can use some milk (which will make them richer and denser). If your yeast was in the fridge and you're using it directly, use warm water. NOT hot as it will diminish the strength of the yeast.
