Sometime looking back makes me nostalgic, like still there are fans for silent movies of Charlie Chaplin in world of computer games, ipad and iphone. I like cowboy movies with its gunfire and horse riding, especially those of Clint Eastwood. Why I am talking about silent movies and western movies in a food blog is because I fell in love with this 19th century dinner rolls. When I saw Parker house rolls for first time in King Arthur flour website, I got hooked immediately. I know I am not going to Boston in the near future, even if I am going I don’t think I will be staying in that famous hotel. It will be real enthusiasm when you try the food which you heard about not tasted.
This parker house rolls are made in Omni Parker House Hotel (built 1855), a hotel in Boston, Massachusetts. They prepared and served two famous American food, Parker house rolls and Boston cream pie. According to King Arthur flour website, Parker house rolls are delicious and special because of the butter; however I can’t experiment with too much amount of butter and reduced to 5 tablespoon of butter. I also incorporated two different flours compared to all purpose flour which the traditional recipe uses. I used 75 % of bread flour and 25% of whole white wheat flour and skipped egg and used fresh mashed potato as I don’t have any potato flour on hand.
Followed KAF recommended way of folding the dough rather than traditional way of cutting the dough in rounds and then folding, which they mentioned as it lose the shape while baking. I didn’t want to see any surprise while baking so used their tried and tested method.
The bread turned out to be so soft, pillowy and delicious. In between my husband asked me to make some Batata vada (Besan covered fried potato dumplings) which is famous in his home town Mumbai. In Mumbai they like to eat vada sandwiched between soft rolls. I thought if I have this soft parker house rolls in my bread basket, why don’t I try the Mumbai classic too. Thus I can taste classics of both worlds. Trust me I did that and it tasted so awesome that my hubby wanted to have them as his evening snack and next day breakfast. Next I am going to try them with whole wheat making them healthier. Here goes the recipe
One Year ago: Cream of mushroom soup
Print Recipe from here
What you need
Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour blog
Unbleached bread flour: 2 cup/ 305 g (I used King Arthur flour)
Whole white wheat flour: 1 cup/ 154g (I used King Arthur flour)
Active dry yeast: 2 ½ teaspoon/ 23g
Granulated Sugar: 3 tablespoon/ 41 g
Salt: 1 ¼ teaspoon/7g
Mashed potato: ¾ cup/ 175 g
Unsalted butter: 5 tablespoons (3 tablespoon for dough and rest is used as melted butter for brushing)
Milk: 1 cup/205 g
Water: ¼ cup
How I made
Boil a large potato (I used Russet potato) and when it cooked mash and set aside.
Heat milk in microwave safe bowl for 35 seconds high and add 3 tablespoon of butter and set aside.
In a small bowl add ¼ cup of warm water, sugar and yeast and stir everything to combine and set aside for proofing the yeast for 15 minutes or until they become bubbly and frothy.
In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine all of the ingredients (except the 2 tablespoons melted butter at the end), mixing to form a shaggy dough.
Knead the dough, by hand (10 minutes) or by machine (7 to 8 minutes) until it's smooth.
Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl or 8-cup measure (so you can track its rising progress). Allow it to rise for 2 hours or until they become double in size.
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface. Divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, roll or pat the dough into an 8" x 12" rectangle.
Brush the dough all over with a light coating of the melted butter. Remaining melted butter should save for later use.
Cut the dough in half lengthwise, to make two 4" x 12" rectangles. Working with one rectangle at a time, fold it lengthwise to about ½" of the other edge, so the bottom edge sticks out about ½" beyond the top edge. You'll now have a rectangle that's about 2 ¼" x 12". Repeat with the other piece of dough.
Cut each of the rectangles crosswise into four 4" pieces, making a total of 8 rolls, each about 2 ¼" x 3". Place the rolls, smooth side up, in a lightly greased 9" x 13" pan. Repeat with the remaining piece of dough, making 12 rolls in all. You'll arrange 4 rows of 3 in the pan, with the longer side of the rolls going down the longer side of the pan. Gently flatten the rolls to pretty much cover the bottom of the pan.
Cover the pan, and let the rolls rise for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, until they're puffy but definitely not doubled. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Bake the rolls for 20 to 25 minutes, until they're golden brown and feel set.
Remove them from the oven, and while warm, brush with the remaining melted butter.
Enjoy with Jam or Batata Vada like me.
Preparation time: 4 hours
Yield: 12 no
Verdict; soft , yummy
Will you make it again: Yes I will
This delicious rolls are going to
Susan's Yeast spotting
Just another meatless monday
Midnight manic meatless monday
Hearth and Soul hop vol. 31
Healthy kids meals carnival #3
This is Swathi ( Dr. Ambujom Saraswathy Ph.D) from Zesty South Indian Kitchen who loves to explore cuisines from all over the world. Whenever possible I try to to give an Indian touch to several of the world cuisine, and has weakness for freshly baked bread. All the recipes you see here are created by me and approved after taste-test by my family.
Usha says
Swathi these rolls look and sound fabulous, I can't wait to try them!
RAKS KITCHEN says
Bookmarking this,love the texture!
a moderate life says
Swathi! I have "seen" the omni parker house, but never been inside. It is indeed a grand hotel and I never knew that parker house rolls got their name from that hotel! They are simply divine and fluffy aren't they? Thanks for sharing your wonderful version on the hearth and soul hop this week! All the best, alex
Suja Sugathan says
Awesome recipe..looks soft and yummy,bookmarked.First time here,happy to follow you. Do stop at my space when ever time permits.
Viki's Kitchen says
Wow ...rolls look so perfect dear. I always crave for these soft white rolls:)
Joanne says
Parker house rolls are so buttery delicious! These look wonderful.
honeybeecooksjackfruit says
Looks lovely! I tried these out last month for first time. Sounds great with batata vada!
Reeni says
What beautiful rolls! So golden brown, soft and tender! I love the sound of the potato dumpling on them too. Utterly delicious!
Claudia says
I love the scent of rising and baking bread. Almost worth the work just for that. Your rolls turned out beautifully.
Amy says
These look wonderful. I love to make homemade bread and rolls too. Much better than package ones.
I'm having the very first GIVEAWAY on my blog. Please stop by to submit an entry. Good luck.
http://utry.it/2011/01/happy-birthday-to-meand-very-first.html
Rachana says
the rolls look so soft n yummy.
savitha ramesh says
Wow.......swathi ur love for baking ,will never end......lovely buns.....
Panchpakwan says
Perfectly baked rolls...yum.
Manasi says
First time here and came coz of the rolls....I recently borrowed a baking book from the library and loved Parker house rolls and am thinking of making them... ur post has motivated me to go for it!
The rolls looks awesome 🙂
Jay says
Awesome recipe Swathi...u r really talented..
Tasty appetite
~Lisa~ says
These rolls look so moist and delicious.
garlutti says
Hi Swati...I love this recipe that you've made bread, and its history. I love making bread. This looks delicious.
Greetings Marimi
Dimah says
These rolls look so beautiful and delicate!
El Oteador de los Mercados says
How wonderful recipe ... and that turned out so tasty.
Peggy says
Oooh I love a good buttery roll! These look fantastic!
Kairali sisters says
wow...Irresistible rolls and thanks for the step pics swathi....
Jaisy James says
soft and yummy
Hamaree Rasoi says
enjoyed the write up Swathi 🙂 Can you parcel me few rolls ? looks fluffy and soft.
I have shared an award with you please accept it
Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi
G.Pavani says
Rolls looks so soft n delicious..
Anu says
WOW loved it..feel like eating one..
Magpie says
Wow Swati you seem to have a real knack for substitutions and truly understand the science behind cooking! Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting on my Baileys macarons! hope to see you at my event Kerala Kitchen too!
In any case I will be visiting your wonderful blog often!
♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ says
Oh i soo wanna try these too now:-) with the butter:-)
thannxx for a wonderful write up and post:-)
Ur rolls look lovely and i love what ua te with them!
Soumya says
soft and yummy rolls...adipoli ayittundu
Kankana says
This is magical for me .. have to give it a try ..Thanks for sharing 🙂
http://www.kankanasaxena.net
Yummy Team says
Ahaa..Adipoli rolls, Swathi..Thanks for the step pics..Ennelum try cheyyame..
Curry Leaf says
Love the writeup. I too had bookmarked these from KAF. Same as pav rolls I feel. Perfect these are Swathi. I prefer them with spicy sides rather than jam. 🙂
Rumana Rawat says
have been trying for baking bread, but i don't know why it never comes out as expected:)this looks so beautiful")
Pushpa says
Rolls look soft and delicious,putting a patty in between sounds mouthwatering.
Laura says
I love the little history blurb AWESOME!! These look so great, thanks for linking up to Just Another Meatless Monday
Adelina says
nice history behind your fav rolls- they look truly delightful!
Nisa Homey says
The rolls looks perfect and soft....tell me what is this unbleached flour???.
PALATABLE says
Despite all those changes especially the reduced butter but yours looks soft and perfect!
http://treatntrick.blogspot.com
Lena Rashmin Raj says
wowww.. looks so soft.. im missing pune special vada pav...
Talita says
Mmmmm... I love bread roll with potato in the dough. Sounds amazing!!
Jisha says
looks delicious & soft
Renata says
How interesting! That's a different way of shaping the rolls, I like it. I have tried my hand at potato bread for the first time recently and I loved it! Yours looks so soft and delicious!
Miriam says
Swathi, you are the amazing cook who inspired me to make all of my breads homemde. Thank you for that, I love it! Miriam@Meatless Meals For Meat Eaters
HGourmet Foodie says
wow..delicious looking rolls.. wonderfully moist and soft!!!!
Marus says
These rolls must be delicious. With your permission I copy the recipe. Good week
kitchen queen says
awesome and lovely rolls with step by step demo.
sinfullyspicy says
I also love watching classic movies..there's smthing so wonderful abt them.These rolls look perfectly baked and how did you manage such an amazing rise with yeast in such cold weather?Perfect!
Ananda Rajashekar says
oh they look so perfect done, soft and airy!
Faith says
Your rolls look perfect, Swathi! Soft and light like little clouds!
divya says
looks soo soft and yummy...
aipi says
Looks PErfect!
US Masala
Torviewtoronto says
looks soft and delicious
Sayantani says
awesome recipe...bookmarked. thanks for the pictorial, very helpful for beginner bread bakers like us.
Sharmilee! :) says
Looks so soft n yum
Priya says
This rolls is completely new for me,thanks for sharing, lovely writeup..