Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you click on the link and make a purchase.
These Salted Honey Parker House Rolls are iconic, light and fluffy. They’re baked up until perfectly puffy and brushed with honey butter and topped with flakey sea salt. Serve them with Creamy Baked Macaroni and Cheese, Cranberry Sauce and Butterscotch Pumpkin Pie.
Ingredients for Salted Honey PArker House Rolls
- Instant Yeast – I love using instant yeast for this recipe because it allows us to skip a step. No blooming of yeast!
- All-purpose flour – This is the perfect flour that gives us a good bread-y texture.
- Honey – The honey adds a delicious sweetness on top of the rolls.
- Eggs – They provide a richness to the dough that we just love.
- Milk – I love using whole cow’s milk for this recipe. It will work with almond milk but the fat and body is what makes these rolls delicious.
For the rest of the ingredients, please refer to the recipe index card below!
How to Make Salted Honey Parker House Rolls
- You’re going to start by buttering your 9×13-inch baking pan. This butter is gonna add a bit of extra flavor to the rolls. (Note: You can also use another baking dish size or multiple baking dishes –whatever can fit!)
- Mix together the dry ingredients. We have all-purpose flour, instant yeast and salt.
- Melt the butter and pour in milk and honey. Whisk it until it’s smooth. Pour it into the center of the dry ingredients, along with the beaten eggs.
- Mix it all together. And knead it for a few minutes in the bowl. And then add it to a floured surface and knead it a few more times.
- Pour it to a greased bowl. And allow the rolls to rise for about 30 to 40 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 15 equal pieces. If you are the type to use a food scale when baking, I weighed them out and they need to be about 64 grams each. Shape them and put them in the pan and allow them to rise for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.
- Brush them with egg wash and bake ‘em! When they come out of the oven, brush them with the honey butter and top them with flakey sea salt! YUM!
Recipe FAQs
Do these need to be made with instant yeast? Can they be made with active dry yeast?
You can make these with active dry yeast by activating the dry yeast in the lukewarm milk. To do so, warm the milk and honey over medium low-heat (don’t add the butter yet). Add it to a small bowl. Pour and mix in the active dry yeast and let it stand for 5-8 minutes. It will foam up and be very alive. Pour in the melted butter and proceed with the recipe.
Can these be made ahead?
These are best the day of. But you can make them the day ahead. Refer below to some alternatives on how to make them ahead. We have options!
Can I make these without honey?
These have been tested with honey and the best results will be with honey. But you could replace it with two tablespoons of granulated sugar.
How do I reheat these rolls?
To rewarm them, wrap them in foil in a 200 degrees F oven for 10 minutes. You can serve them with softened butter.
What if I don’t have flakey sea salt for the topping?
You can simply use kosher salt or your favorite salt. Just use a pinch after you apply the honey butter.
Can I stuff them with something or add a different topping?
These French Onion Rolls are filled with gruyere and caramelized onions. These Garlic Twist Rolls have garlic, herbs and butter in them.
How to Make these Rolls Ahead
There are lots of options to make these ahead. Here are some scenarios that work great.
- Make the dough the day ahead – Make the dough, store the unassembled dough in the fridge sealed with plastic wrap or a lid. Assemble the day of.
- Make the dough and assemble the rolls – Make the dough, let it rise, assemble the rolls and then transfer the unbaked rolls to the fridge. Be sure to brush the top with a bit of oil so they don’t dry out and cover with plastic wrap. Bake the day of.
- Make the dough, assemble and bake off – This is my least favorite option because I like these freshly baked. But you can do this the day ahead. Store the cooled rolls in a sealable plastic bag and store them at room temperature. Warm them up just before serving.
Tips and Tricks
- Store these rolls – You can store these rolls in a sealable plastic bag and stored at room temperature.
- Jarred Yeast – If you’re not using the package of instant yeast and instead have a jar, you’ll be using 14 grams total of instant yeast. (Each envelope weighs 7 grams.)
- Rewarm the Rolls – To rewarm them, wrap them in foil in a 200 degrees F oven for 10 minutes. You can serve them with softened butter.
- Instant Yeast vs. Active Dry Yeast – You can use active dry yeast by adding the active dry yeast to the warm milk and honey mixture (don’t add the butter yet). Allow it to bloom and activate and get all foamy, about 10 minutes, then mix in the melted butter.
- Rub dough with olive oil – Be sure to rub the surface of the dough with a bit of olive oil or cooking oil.
- Cover tightly – And be sure to wrap the bowl tightly with plastic wrap if letting it rise in the fridge overnight or else the dough could form a crust. These are best the day of.
What to Serve with These Rolls
These deserve delicious sides and desserts to accompany them. Here are some favorites:
- Stuffing Muffins
- Cranberry Sauce
- Creamy Baked Macaroni and Cheese
- Bourbon Pumpkin Pie
- Homemade Apple Pie
If you make these Salted Honey Parker House Rolls, please leave a 5 star review below!
Salted Honey Parker House Rolls
These Salted Honey Parker House Rolls are so fluffy and light. They’re baked up until perfectly puffy and brushed with honey butter and topped with flakey sea salt.
Ingredients
Rolls:
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, (for the baking pan)
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour , (562 g)
- 2 envelopes Instant Yeast , (1/2 ounce or 4 1/2 teaspoons)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 1/3 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, (melted)
- 4 tablespoons honey
- 1 large egg
- 2 large egg yolks
For Egg Wash:
- 1 large egg, (beaten, for egg wash topping)
For Honey Butter:
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoon honey
- Flakey sea salt
Instructions
To Make the Dough:
- Butter a 9×13-inch baking pan or something comparable and set aside. You can even use multiple baking pans if needed.
- *Note, this recipe uses a stand-up mixer but if you don’t have one, you can simply mix the ingredients together with a spatula and knead the dough by hand for about 10 minutes!
- In the bowl of a stand-up mixer (with the hook attachment), add the flour, yeast and salt. Mix until combined.
- In a small pot, set over medium-low heat, warm the milk, butter and honey, until butter is melted, being sure it’s not too hot (it should be lukewarm) or else the yeast won’t rise. If it does get a bit too hot, simply let it stand at room temperature until it cools down.
- Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients. In a small bowl, add the egg and egg yolks and beat until combined. Next, add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and knead with machine on medium speed for about 5-7 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
- The dough will be quite wet and that’s ok! Rub a medium bowl with about a teaspoon of oil, (I used olive oil), and transfer the dough to the bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise for 30-40 minutes. Alternatively, cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and allow to rise in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours.
To Assemble the Rolls:
- Divide the dough into 15 equal pieces. If you want them to be the same exact size, you can weight them out. Each piece of dough should weigh about 64 grams.
- Roll the dough into balls, stretching the dough and pinching it under the ball of dough to make sure it has a smooth top.
- Transfer them to the buttered pan and allow them to rise for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. They should have doubled in size and should be puffy and supple.*Note: if you let the dough rise in the fridge overnight, you can assemble them straight from the fridge but they may need to rise for a bit longer (since the dough will be quite cold). It may take about 1 1/2 hours for them to rise after assembled!
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush the tops of the rolls with egg wash and transfer to the oven to bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
To Make the Honey Butter:
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the honey. Mix together until smooth.
- When the buns come out of the oven, immediately brush the tops with the honey butter mixture and sprinkle with flakey sea salt.
Notes
To Store and Reheat these Rolls:
- You can store these rolls in a sealable plastic bag and store them at room temperature.
- To rewarm them, wrap them in foil in a 200 degrees F oven for 10 minutes. You can serve them with softened butter.
- If you don’t have flakey sea salt, feel free to top them with a pinch of kosher salt.
- If you don’t have instant yeast, you can use active dry yeast by adding the active dry yeast to the warm milk and honey mixture (don’t add the butter yet). Allow it to bloom and activate and get all foamy, about 10 minutes, then mix in the melted butter and proceed with the recipe.
- The substitution for instant yeast to active dry yeast (for this recipe) is 1:1 (14 grams of total yeast).
- If you’re not using the package of instant yeast and instead have a jar, you’ll be using 14 grams total of instant yeast. (Each envelope weighs 7 grams.)
- To make these ahead, you can make the dough the night before and let it rise in the fridge overnight. The following morning, divide and assemble the rolls, let the rolls rise until puffy (about 1 1/2 hours) and bake.
- Before you put the dough in the fridge to rise, be sure to rub the surface of the dough with a bit of olive oil or cooking oil.
- And be sure to wrap the bowl tightly with plastic wrap if letting it rise in the fridge overnight or else the dough could form a crust. These are best the day of.
Nutrition
Calories: 187kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 38mg | Sodium: 601mg | Potassium: 59mg | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 464IU | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this Recipe? Please Rate & comment below!
If I double the recipe and make 30 rolls in large pan, do I also double the cooking time? How long should I bake for?
i haven’t doubled it but i would check it at the 20 minute mark. I’m guessing they’ll need another 5 minutes. But maybe not!
I made these and they were VERY bland. The honey isn’t enough to give the bread sweetness. I definitely recommend adding sugar and salt to the recipe.
there is salt in the recipe. did you add it?
Trying to put these together today for 24 servings. My yeast packets are .25 oz or 7 grams and are a little over 2tsps per packet. Instructions say 1/2 ounce packets or 4-1/2 tsps.
I the instructions also note:
“Jarred Yeast – If you’re not using the package of instant yeast and instead have a jar, you’ll be using 14 grams total of instant yeast. (Each envelope weighs 7 grams.)”.
So, it looks like I will need 42 grams of yeast. Is that correct?
Thanks!
I would make it easy on yourself and just double the recipe.
I followed the recipe exactly, using the instructions for dry active yeast. My rolls didn’t rise much in either rise (definitely didn’t double in the second rise – it maybe rose up about 30% more), so I thought they would turn out dense and yeasty as I’d seen in other comments. I thought they didn’t rise because of the cold temperature of my house, or when I added the hot melted butter to the yeast-honey-milk mixture maybe it killed some yeast if it was too hot. They ended up rising a lot in the oven. They turned out great and they were a huge hit with my family!
Wow….these rolls are sooo good. Thank you so much for the recipe!
wonderful to hear!
Little confused. Servings say 8 but directions have you split into 15 pieces? Also can these be made the evening before Thanksgiving and still be good? Thanks!
It serves about 8 giving mostly everyone 2 rolls. But it makes 15 rolls. Yes, they’re good the night before. The blog post has instructions above on how to re-heat them!
Thank you for this! I have had such a long streak of *trying* to make the rolls for Thanksgiving dinner. I gave your recipe and impeccable instructions a whirl today and HOLY MOLY! I will probably hide them from my family and eat them all myself, but they’re sure to be a hit if I do share. Thank you so much!
Fantastic!!! These are a crowd-please for sure. Thank you for the amazing feedback.
My cat decided to sit in the bowl when the dough was on its first rise lol! They’re on their second rise right now and I’m hoping they still turn out!
How did it go? Lol. It should be fine.
Is it best to make these in a metal pan or could I use a glass pyrex baking dish? How might this impact cook time? Thanks so much!
Metal plan is the best because it heats up quickly. It might take a few more minutes (like 3-4) if baked in a glass dish.
I’ve been trialing multiple Parker house roll recipes for thanksgiving this year since it’s my first time hosting. These are by far the best! I don’t think I even rolled them correctly and they still came out absolutely beautiful. Even though they’re honey butter rolls, they’re really not too sweet, which is what makes them so good. It’s just a hint of honey. Definitely get Maldon sea salt, you need that flaky topping to give them the perfect savory depth. I will make these until the end of time. Thank you for such a beautiful recipe! These are totally show topping and look like far more effort than they really are.
wowwwww. wonderful to hear. this makes me so happy!! 🙂
How do I measure 2.67 c of milk?
It’s about 21 ounces. If you have a liquid measure, measure it that way!