Parker House Rolls Made With Sourdough

Light, fluffy, buttery and perfectly sweet, these Parker House Rolls are the perfect side for any mealtime or holiday. Made with sourdough starter, they’re an easy and impressive recipe.

When thinking about what to make for dinner, one of my favorite side dishes is a pan of hot and buttery rolls, right out of the oven. This is a true sourdough bread recipe, with all the great health benefits of real sourdough.

When I have freshly fed sourdough, these rolls don’t take too long to make, which makes me love them even more. For a gluten-free version, convert your sourdough starter to gluten-free.

What ingredients do you need for Sourdough Parker House Rolls?

• Sourdough starter 
• Cultured Buttermilk
• Butter or Lard
• Honey 
• Salt
• Eggs
• White flour (optionally mix in some ancient grain flour)

The freshly fed sourdough starter, buttermilk, and honey make these rolls perfectly sweet and not too sour. Plus the addition of eggs makes them light and fluffy and when brushed with melted butter they’re simply perfect. 

How to Make Parker House Rolls

One of the tips I share in my free Bread Making Series is how to read your dough. No bread recipe can tell you exactly how much flour you’ll need for the perfect results. Every kitchen is different with different levels of humidity or temperature, so you’ll want to know the basics of feeling your dough, testing the elasticity and knowing exactly how much flour is just right. 

To watch my free Bread Making Series, click here!

The first thing you’ll want to do is get all your ingredients ready. Slightly warm the buttermilk with 4 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan, just until the butter melts. Try not to go above 100 degrees F. 

Pour the buttermilk mixture into a large bowl. Add the eggs and the sourdough and mix until smooth.

Set 1⁄2 cup of flour aside and add the remaining 3 1⁄4 cups to the bowl. Mix until you have a stiff, tacky dough. I like to start with just 2 cups of flour to make it easier to stir in, then add more flour a bit at a time.

Using something like this Danish dough whisk is really helpful in getting a well-mixed dough.

You’ll want to stir your dough until you have a stiff, tacky dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Once the dough begins to pull away from the bowl, I like to finish kneading it on a well-floured surface.

To do this, I dump about ½ cup flour onto my countertop, spread around evenly, drop my dough onto the counter and start kneading. I’ll add flour as needed, ½ cup at a time. While I continue to knead, the remaining flour is incorporated into the dough.

Once the dough is smooth and pliable, form it into a ball and put it into a clean, greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and set it in a warm place for 2 hours. 

After 2 hours, butter a 9x13 glass pan or a large cast-iron skillet. Punch down the dough and divide it into 12 equal portions. Form each portion into a ball and set it in the baking dish.

Once all 12 rolls are formed, cover the dish and let them rise for 2 hours in a warm place, or until the rolls are level with the top of the baking dish.

While the rolls are still rising, preheat the oven to 350° F and melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter. Just before you bake the rolls, brush the tops with about half of the melted butter. 

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the rolls are golden brown. Take the rolls out and brush them with the rest of the melted butter just before serving. 

If you’re going somewhere for dinner and want to make these rolls, something I like to do is partially bake the rolls ahead of time, then finish them in the oven just before dinner is ready. 

Other Recipes You May Enjoy

• Simple Homemade French Bread Recipe
• Easy Sourdough Pancakes
• 16 Sourdough Mistakes (or Myths)
• Fudgy Sourdough Double Chocolate Brownies
• 5-Minute No-Knead Artisan Bread – Just 4 Ingredients
• 5 Ways to Use No-Knead Bread Dough
• Bread Soup – A Quick and Easy Lunch