This is Great Grandma Mary Steffen’s version of the classic Parker House dinner roll; a little sweeter and hers uses water and milk. The rolls are buttery, light and slightly sweet with a delicate crunchy outside.
Their name comes from the Parker House Hotel where they are still served today. The recipe can be traced back to Fanny Merritt Farmer in the 1870’s.
½ cup lukewarm water
1 cake or package yeast (3 1/2 teaspoons)
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons shortening (as in unsalted butter)
1 ½ teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons sugar
5 cups flour
- Soften yeast in lukewarm water. In a small pot heat the milk – do not let it boil or simmer. Add the shortening, salt and sugar, stir until smooth then remove from heat. When lukewarm add yeast and about half of the flour stir until mixed.
- Turn the mixture out into the remaining flour. Knead to make dough easy to handle. Knead thoroughly. The dough should be moist and slightly sticky.
- Place the dough in greased bowl. Turn to dough over so all of it is greased. Let it rise until light (about 45 minutes depend on temperature of the air).
- Take the dough out and knead it briefly on a floured board. Then roll it thin (about a ½ inch thick). Cover with a cloth and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
Cut the rolled out dough with a biscuit cutter (or drinking glass), brush the top with melted better. Mark a crease down the middle with a knife. Fold the circle over on the crease you just made to make a half moon shape.
Place the folded roll on a greased baking sheet, brush with butter and allow to rise for 30 – 45 minutes.- Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
Notes: I made these for the first time last night (Oct. 9, 2009). I am wondering if a “cake of yeast” should have been interpreted as more than 2 1/2 teaspoons yeast, based on the amount of flour I’m going to guess 3 1/2 teaspoons is a better amount. I am also quite sure that the amount of salt in the bread is because the butter was unsalted. Irene was a dairy farmer’s wife and she got her butter directly from the processor who purchased their milk. So I will update the recipe to unsalted butter. Grandma recipes definitely have the problem that they were written for grandma and not her grand daughter 40 years later.
