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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!}
This post was originally published on November 13, 2019
So the unmelted butter goes in the dough and the melted butter gets combined with honey? Seems backwards. Currently letting my dough rise but the honey butter seems to want to separate as its cooling. I feel like that should have been the room temp butter that gets mixed with the honey so it’s spreadable.
Hey Molly,
Either way is fine to do:) I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions. Happy Holidays! xTieghan
What’s the measurement of the yeast if I don’t have packets?? thanks 🙂
Hi Antonella! A yeast packet usually has 1/4 ounce of 2 1/4 teaspoons. I hope you enjoy this recipe! xTieghan
These rolls were SO good. They were so hearty and fluffy. These are the best rolls I think I have ever had. Thank you!
Thank you so much Kelly! xTieghan
The first time I made the recipe I used the metric instructions and my trusty kitchen scale – as others have commented, this was a big mistake resulting in a very stiff dough that wasn’t that tasty when baked. But after seeing many, many positive reviews, I gave the recipe a second try using the US Customary measurements and let me tell you – they.were.FABULOUS! Definitely worth the second attempt and I will be keeping this recipe for sure!
Hi Sarah! I am so happy these turned out so well for you! Thank you for trying these! xTieghan
I made these on Thanksgiving and 5 days later they’re STILL moist and packed full of flavor. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe- they are EXCELLENT and easy to make (even for an inexperienced baker like myself)!!
Love to hear that! Thank you Brittany! xTieghan
AMAZING, these will now go into rotation at our house!
Love that! Thank you Kristin! xTieghan
How do I do this by hand? I don’t have a dough hook. Thanks!
Hey Leanne,
Just mix with a wooden spoon and then knead by hand. I hope you love the recipe. Please let me know if you have any other questions and Happy Holidays! xTieghan
These rolls are delicious. I made them the night before Thanksgiving and baked them the next day. Couldn’t be easier! Thank you!
Thank you so much Julie! xTieghan
Made these with buttermilk because I didn’t have whole milk on hand and they still came out amazing! Love this recipe, especially that sticky honey butter on top.
Thank you so much Rebecca! xTieghan
I’ve been trying roll recipe after roll recipe and this one finally hits the mark! I’m making them for the third time this week! Thank you!!
Thank you so much Sara! xTieghan
Hi! I love these rolls and the recipe is so simple and amazing. I was curious if you had any solutions to test that the dough is fully cooked through inside? I baked these the other day and the outside was nice and golden, but the inside still seemed as though it could use some cooking. At what point do you know if they are fully cooked? Thank you so much!
Hey Gaby,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, for me they are usually fully cooked once the top is golden brown. If you need to increase your baking time you can always cover with foil. I hope this helps for next time! xTieghan
We made this recipe for Thanksgiving and everyone loved it!! These rolls are so simple and so delicious! The sweetness from the honey pushes them over the top.
Yes! so happy you enjoyed these, Erin! Thank you! xTieghan
Hypothetically (or not!), if I left these out overnight on my countertop and forgot to put them in the fridge during the rising process, can I still bake or freeze them or do I need to throw them away? ?
Hey Mica,
They should be totally fine:) I hope you love the recipe. Please let me know if you have any other questions and Happy Holidays! xTieghan
These were AMAZING!! I have been intimidated by working with yeast, and these could not have been easier, or more flaky & delicious. Still drooling…
Thank you so much Kristen! xTieghan
BEST. ROLL. EVER!!!!!
Thank you Christina! xTieghan