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These Salted Honey Butter Parker House Rolls are light, airy, buttery, perfectly salted, and SO delicious. Serve them warm right out of the oven with homemade honey butter for a dinner roll that’s melt in your mouth good. Incredibly quick and easy to make and uses just six everyday staple ingredients. It doesn’t get easier or tastier than that! These are the perfect rolls for all of your upcoming holiday dinners…Thanksgiving included!
This post is sponsored by Fleischmann’s®.
If there’s one thing that my mom really passed on to me it’s a love of soft, buttery dinner rolls. She’d make a point most Sunday nights to bake fresh bread for the family dinner. Just like dessert, mom would often have the bread ready to go before dinner was even a thought. That’s just how she does it, carbs and chocolate. Everything else was secondary. And for that, I love her even more.
Seeing as we both share a love for good bread, you can imagine that it’s a very important item on our Thanksgiving table. And that’s where these Parker House Rolls come into play. These rolls are on my 2019 menu. They are some of the BEST rolls to come out of my kitchen. They’re simple, but yet have “special touches” that make them worthy of any holiday table.
My two secrets? Salted butter and sweet honey butter.
The background…
The story is that Parker House Rolls were created by the Parker House in Boston. It was one of the great nineteenth-century hostelries. As you can imagine, the rolls have been copied by just about every cookbook author and baker that’s out there…myself now included. There are a lot of variations, but classic buttery Parker House Rolls should be light, soft, and a touch sweet.
The dough is traditionally shaped into a folded over roll, but these days there are many ways in which to do it! I ended up rolling mine into coils for a fun, pretty touch.
To make the dough.
As you can tell, my recipe is a little different than the classic. I’m using honey in place of sugar and salted butter. Two simple ingredients that make ALL the difference.
For the dough, simply mix flour with Fleischmann’s® Rapid Rise Yeast, and a pinch of salt. Add warm milk, a touch of honey, and salted butter. Mix until smooth, let the dough rest for ten to fifteen minutes, and then it’s time to shape the rolls. And that’s the beauty of Fleischmann’s® RapidRise® yeast! We get to skip an entire hour-long rise when using the instant yeast. Yes, please!
To shape the rolls.
Shaping the rolls is easy. If you’ve made a cinnamon roll, you can make these Parker House Rolls.
To keep it simple, just take strips of dough and roll them up into a tight coil. I have a bunch of photos to help you guys visually with what your rolls should look like. Once you complete one roll, you will quickly get the hang of the process.
When all the rolls have been shaped and arranged in a baking dish, cover the dish and let the rolls rise until puffy, about twenty to thirty minutes. Then bake! Minutes later your kitchen will be smelling like glorious home-baked bread.
Let’s talk about that honey butter…
Of course, me being me, I had to include a little honey butter. You all know it’s my favorite and I cannot think of a better butter to pair with these soft rolls. The sweetness from the honey is mouth-watering on a warm, fresh out of the oven roll.
Especially when topped with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt as well.
What I love most about these rolls is that you really can’t mess them up. The dough and process are so easy and very forgiving. Trust me, if you’re fearful of making bread, start with this recipe. It’s SO GOOD every time.
And yes, you should make these for Thanksgiving. They’re perfect for soaking up all that gravy and then eating for breakfast the next morning. There’s nothing not to love.
Again, soft, buttery, perfectly sweet, and just a touch salty. What every dinner roll should aspire to be!
If you make these salted honey butter parker house rolls, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Watch the how-to video:
Salted Honey Butter Parker House Rolls
Servings: 12 rolls
Calories Per Serving: 290 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more if needed
- 1 packet Fleischmann’s® Rapid Rise Yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup warm whole milk
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 4 tablespoons salted butter at room temperature
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- flaky sea salt for topping
Honey Butter
- 6 tablespoons salted butter melted
- 3 tablespoons honey
Instructions
- 1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the warm milk, honey, the egg, and butter. Using the dough hook, mix until the flour is completely incorporated, about 4-5 minutes. If the dough seems sticky, add the remaining 1/4 cup of flour. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes or up to a few hours at room temperature. 2. To make the honey butter. Combine the butter and honey together in a small bowl. 3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.4. Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Turn out the dough, punch it down, and divide the dough in half. Roll each half to a 12-inch square, about 1/4-inch thick. Brush each square with honey butter, saving any leftover butter for serving. Cut each square of dough into 6 strips. Roll each strip into a coil (see above photo) and arrange seam side down in the prepared baking dish. 5. Cover the dish and let the rolls rise for about 30 minutes, until they're puffy. Alternately, you can let the rolls sit in the fridge overnight.6. Bake the rolls for 18-25 minutes, until they're golden brown. Remove them from the oven and brush with the remaining honey butter. Pull them apart to serve warm with flaky sea salt.
Notes
To Make Ahead: prepare the rolls through step 4. Do not let the rolls rise at room temp. Cover the rolls and place in the fridge (up to overnight). When ready to bake, remove the rolls from the fridge 30 minutes prior to baking, then bake as directed.
To Prepare and Freeze: assemble the rolls through step 5, then cover the pan and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the rolls overnight in the fridge or on the counter for a few hours. Once thawed, bake as directed.
To Bake and Freeze: bake the rolls as directed and let cool completely. Cover well and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw and warm before serving.
To Use Active Dry Yeast: Mix 1 packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast with the warm milk and honey. Let sit 5-10 minutes, until bubbly and foamy on top. Add the flour and follow the directions as listed for the remainder of the recipe.
{This post is sponsored by Fleischmann’s®. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep Half Baked Harvest cooking!}
Hi there. I’m the “make ahead” section it says to follow through to step 4 and don’t let rise but set in fridge overnight. But when reading step 5, it says to let the dough rise and then “can place in fridge overnight”. I’m confused which one to do. I want to make ahead but want to ensure I have enough time for the second rise.
Hi Kaila,
You will want to follow step 4 and then you will let the dough rise before baking. I hope this helps! xT
Super fluffy and went amazing with the spicy baked potato soup!
Hi MaKenna,
I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment, so glad it was enjoyed! Have a great weekend! Xx
Hi! I made these and they were really good but mine turned out dense. What did I do wrong?
Hey Jessica,
Thanks for trying this recipe, so glad to hear they were enjoyed! Did they rise properly? That would be my only guess as to why they were dense for you. Let me know if I can help in any other way! xT
I made them for Easter and they were more dense, so tonight I cut out a bit of the flour and they were perfect. Clearly loved them since I’m making them again! Hah!
Thanks so much Abigail!!
Is there any way to cook all the way or half way and reheat for a party?
Hi Stephanie,
You bet, just follow the make ahead instructions provided above:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! Xx
Somehow I managed to mess these up! Mine didn’t rise after putting them in the pan….any thoughts on what I may have done?
Hi Marlene,
So sorry to hear this! Was there anything you may have adjusted in the recipe? Did you use the rapid rise yeast and warm milk? Any chance your milk was too hot? Let me know how I can help! xT
I have been looking for a parker house roll recipe recently to recreate the ones my grandma used to make. These were absolutely delicious! Only modification was I baked them a few extra minutes than suggested in the recipe (I think my dough was a bit thicker).
Thank you SO much Megan! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! xT
My daughter wanted to make these for the longest time. So we made these plus a batch of your jalapeño cheddar recipe.
We made a trial run and they were very good but maybe pulled them out of ecen too early. So we made two more batches for easter ham dinner. Made them yesterday. They look awesome . Hoping to warm them a bit prior to serving for dinner.
I was going to send a photo but didnt see a link to do that.
Hey Dale,
Wonderful! I am so glad to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it! Happy Easter! xT
Has it been tried with Almond milk instead of whole milk? Curious to know if it would still turn out 🙂
Hi Emily! I haven’t ever tried that before so I can’t say for sure! So sorry! xT
I usually make it with almond milk because it’s what I have on hand and I love them like that! Works great for me.
My go to recipe for rolls!
I made them in Thanksgiving and they were such a hit I made them again for Christmas!
Hi there! Thank you soooo much for trying out this recipe! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 xT
I made these for Thanksgiving dinner. They almost didn’t make it to the table….I could have eaten the whole pan by myself! Easy to make and probably my favorite bread recipe ever! We will be having them again for Christmas, and again soon, I’m sure. Thank you for this heavenly bread recipe.
Hi! Thank you so much for giving the recipe a try! Hope you have an amazing Christmas! xT
To make the honey butter is it supposed to be completely melted ? Or are we just softening the butter ? In your video it looks solid but I can never get it to not look weird once it hardens again after melting!
You make the honey butter with softened butter not melted. That’s a typo in the recipe.
These were delicious! I especially liked the crispy, flaky bottoms. I don’t have a stand mixer so I kneaded them by hand and they were absolutely perfect. Thank you!!!
Thank you so much Jen! So glad you enjoyed these rolls! 🙂 xT
Hi! These are so tasty but I cannot get them to fully cook. Always too doughy. I even add baking time. Does this ever happen to you? Would you think they just need to keep baking or need to be rolled thinned? Help! I need them to be perfect because they’re so good otherwise.
Hi Stephanie! It sounds like your rolls might not be rolled out thin enough! Do you feel like they’re browned on the top but not cooked in the middle? xT
Yes! Browned on top and gooey in the middle.
Can I use bread flour instead of AP flour??
Hi,
Have you ever tried making these with Gluten Free flour? They sound delish!
Hi Kristy! I haven’t ever made these with GF flour before! So sorry! xT
Kristy, did you end up making this recipe with gf flour? I’m trying today & curious how they turned out for you!
Can you make this if you don’t have a stand mixer?
Hi Nikki! Did you make these with gluten free flour and if yes, how did they turn out?
Sincerely,
A friend who wants to make these for her gluten intolerant friend ❤️