Parker House Rolls (Sister Schubert Style)

Better than Sister Schubert’s Parker House rolls, these buttery rolls are easy to make and the perfect addition to any dinner!

You might also like our knotted dinner rolls, our pretzel dinner rolls, or our quick garlic breadsticks!

Watch our step by step video!

Parker House Rolls

Parker House rolls originated at the Parker House Hotel (now called the Omni Parker House) in the 1800s. The signature rolls are so yummy. Each tiny ball of roll dough is flattened and spread with butter before being folded in half and placed into a pan. You can bake them in a 9×13″ pan or in cake pans.

Sister Schubert’s Parker House Rolls

My kids love the frozen Sister Schubert’s Parker House-style dinner rolls. They come crowded in a foil pan and bake up quickly. I like them too, but always prefer homemade to storebought. Sister Schubert’s version is baked in a round cake pan so I made mine in a cake pan too.  They are easy to make and the homemade version blows the frozen counterpart out of the water.

One batch makes 32 soft and golden rolls. Make sure to brush them with butter as soon as they come out of the oven before digging in. You can make these rolls with a mixing bowl and Danish dough whisk or in a stand mixer. I have both and tend to mix by hand these days. I highly recommend using a Danish dough whisk over a wooden spoon. It works great to mix up yeast bread dough.

Parker House Rolls Ingredients

warm water: you need warm water to activate the dry yeast. Not too hot, the perfect temperature is between 105 and 115 degrees.

yeast: you can use instant or dry active yeast. I’m so used to proofing my yeast that I proof it no matter what kind I use.

sugar: a bit of white sugar adds sweetness to the dough.

kosher salt: you can use table salt, but I typically only buy kosher salt and use it for all of my baking and cooking.

melted butter: you’ll need two types of butter (melted and softened). The melted butter is mixed into the dough. The butter should be melted and cooled to room temperature.

eggs: for richness and texture.

all-purpose flour: start with 3 cups (half of the flour) and add the rest one cup at a time.

softened butter: each ball of roll dough is flattened and spread with a thin layer of butter. Save any leftovers to melt and brush over the baked rolls.

How to Make Parker House Rolls

Combine warm water and yeast together in a small bowl. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Pour the water and yeast mixture into a large mixing bowl. Add sugar, salt, melted butter, and eggs and mix thoroughly.

Add 3 cups of flour and mix, then add the remaining flour one cup at a time until a soft dough forms.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until it comes together in a smooth ball. It might seem soft and slightly sticky and that’s ok.

Place the dough into an oiled bowl and cover loosely with plastic or a damp cloth.

Let the dough rise for 90 minutes, or until doubled in size.

Turn the dough onto your work surface and divide the dough into 2 pieces.

Divide each of those pieces in half, and continue doing so until you have 32 portions.

Flatten each ball of dough with your hand.

Spread a small amount of butter over each piece of dough and fold in half, gently pressing down onto the seams.

Continue until all 32 pieces of dough have been flattened, spread with butter, and folded in half.

Arrange the rolls into greased 8-9″ cake pans as shown above with 10 rolls around the edge (with the seams facing the edge of the pan), 5 in the center, and 1 in the middle. 16 rolls per pan. It’s going to be CROWDED and that’s okay—that’s what makes them look like the Sister Schubert’s version.

Cover pans loosely with plastic or a damp cloth and let rise again for 30-40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Bake rolls for 18 minutes. Brush hot rolls with melted butter while still in the pans.

Ridiculously soft and buttery. I hope you like this recipe as much as we do!

Copycat Sister Schubert Style Parker House Rolls

Parker House Rolls Recipe

Better than Sister Schubert's Parker House rolls, these buttery rolls are easy to make and the perfect addition to any dinner!

5 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes minutes

rise: 2 hours hours

Total Time: 2 hours hours 38 minutes minutes

Servings: 32 rolls

Calories: 149kcal

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast (one package)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 cup melted butter (cooled to room temperature)
• 2 large eggs
• 5 1/2-6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup softened butter

Instructions

• Combine warm water and yeast in a small bowl. Stir. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes.
• Pour the water/yeast mixture into a large mixing bowl. Add sugar, salt, melted butter, and eggs. Stir.
• Add 3 cups of flour and mix thoroughly. Add remaining flour, one cup at a time, until a soft dough forms.

  Note: this is a soft dough. Avoid adding too much flour, just enough to keep the dough from sticking to your hands. The amount of flour can vary depending on the climate and moisture in the dough. My chickens lay jumbo eggs so I might use a bit more flour than others.
• Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for a minute or two. Just until it comes together into a nice soft ball of dough.
• Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover loosely with plastic or a damp cloth.

  Let rise for 90 minutes or until doubled in size.
• Remove the dough from the bowl and cut in half. Cut each half piece in half again, and continue doing so until you have 16 balls of dough from each side (32 pieces total).
• Flatten each piece of dough with your hands and spread a small amount of softened butter over each one before folding them in half.

  Note: you only need a thin layer of softened butter on each piece of dough. No need to slather it on.
• Grease 2 (8-9") cake pans. Place 10 rolls around the outer rim of each pan (with the seam facing the edge of the pan), then 5 rolls in the center, then 1 roll in the middle.
• Cover pans loosely with plastic or a damp cloth and let rise for 30-40 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake rolls for 18 minutes. You'll probably have a bit of softened butter left over. Melt the butter then brush over the baked rolls.

Notes

These rolls freeze beautifully. Wrap in plastic or place in a freezer bag for up to 2 months.

Nutrition

Calories: 149kcal