It’s baking season! You know what that means: Give me all the homemade Cinnamon Swirl Monkey Breads, the Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls, and the Cheddar Jalapeno Pretzel Bites. This post is sponsored by Fleischmann’s® Yeast. All opinions are my own.
That’s not to say that these Parker House Dinner Rolls with Almond Raspberry Butter are only for breakfast. We eat them any time of day really. But when I first make them I think of them for breakfast. Why? Well, since I make these rolls with Fleischmann’s RapidRise Yeast, I know I can fresh bake them any morning quickly and easily. Seriously, by the time I’d run to the bakery for fresh rolls or to the bagel store for a baker’s dozen, these can already be out of the oven and ready to be slathered with that nutty, tangy, slightly sweet Almond Raspberry Butter. Even if you don’t consider yourself a baker, I encourage you to give these a try. Don’t wait for the holidays, give them a dry run asap. (You won’t regret having to eat these delicious rolls more than once.) The key to baking these easy dinner rolls in a hurry truly is Fleischmann’s RapidRise Yeast. I let my kids help me knead the bread dough and still can get these done before they start reaching for a pre-breakfast snack.
WHY ARE THEY CALLED PARKER HOUSE ROLLS?
The name Parker House isn’t just something I made up to make these rolls sound fancy. They are actually a type of roll that is known for being folded in half to a roughly oval shape, though they can be any shape. (I tend to make mine rectangular.) Made with milk, sugar, flour, water, butter, egg, salt, flour, and Fleischmann’s RapidRise Yeast, the result is a buttery, slightly sweet roll with a crispy shell and a soft texture. They truly do melt in your mouth. These rolls date back to the 1870s, when a pastry chef at the Parker House Hotel in Boston was suddenly angered mid-baking, which resulted in him putting half-finished rolls into the oven. When he took them out of the oven, they were dented and folded and appeared to be all wrong. However, when he and guests took a bite, they were delighted at the roll’s taste and texture and a new recipe was created and passed down for generations to devour and enjoy. Don’t you love stories like that? Truly a happy ending in the culinary world.
CAN YOU FREEZE PARKER HOUSE ROLL DOUGH?
Yes, you can make these ahead of time and freeze them. What you want to do is go ahead and shape the kneaded but yet unrisen dough into your roll shapes. Put them in a pan in a single layer and freeze. Once they are all frozen through, you can take out the individual rolls and put them in an airtight container and pop back into the freezer. The day you’re ready to serve them, take the amount you need out of the freezer, put them into the pan you want to bake them in. Let them thaw and rise for about 4-5 hours then bake as directed.
HOW DO YOU WARM ROLLS IN THE OVEN?
To reheat your Parker House rolls for that warm, oven-baked freshness one or two days after you’ve made them (if they last that long), the key is to reheat them in the oven in a baking dish, packed as closely together as you can get them. If you put them on a sheet to reheat, they will get crispy on all sides. Packing them together will keep the sides soft. Brush the rolls again with butter if you like before putting your tightly packed rolls into an oven preheated to 350 degrees on a rack right in the middle. Bake until just warmed through, about 7 minutes. So go ahead and put these Parker House Dinner Rolls with Almond Raspberry Butter at the top of your “to-serve” list for the holidays several times. I promise your family and guests will be thrilled to eat these and you’ll be thrilled with how quickly you can make bread from scratch when you use Fleischmann’s RapidRise Yeast
