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I’ve always loved Parker House Rolls, they are so light and sweet! So I went on a hunt to make them myself. I’ve started going to Mom’s Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook from 1948……and there was Parker House Rolls! As there is barely any kneading, this is a very fast and easy roll to make. “Call them Parker House or pocketbooks; they’re easy to make for the youngest cook.”
Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 24
Prep Time: 2 hrs Cook Time: 20 minIngredients
2 TBL shortening (I used lard)
1 tsp salt
1/4 c sugar
1 cake yeast (1 scant TBL or 1 pkg dry yeast)
1 1/2 c lukewarm water
3 1/2 c sifted flour
1 egg, well beaten
Melted butter
Directions
Add shortening, salt, sugar and crumbled yeast cake (or dry yeast) to water, stir until shortening is melted.
Stir in sifted flour, cover and set in a warm place, free from drafts to rise.
When doubled in bulk, add egg. Knead lightly and let rise again until doubled in bulk. I did this right in the bowl with the back of the spoon, as it is quite wet.
Roll out 1/2” thick on well-floured board. Well floured is very important!! This is a quite wet dough! I sprinkled flour on top and did a light knead as well, before patting out.
Cut with a 2” biscuit cutter, crease in center with a dull knife, brush with melted butter (I just dabbed into a bowl of melted butter), and fold over, pinching the dough at sides to make a pocketbook. Place on baking sheet and brush tops with melted butter. Let rise.
Bake in hot oven (400F) about 20 minutes. Makes 24 (mine made 34).
Categories: Old-Fashioned, Rolls, Yeast Breads
Submitted by: cindyp on April 20, 2010
Jan Jones says:
Thank you so much for posting this recipe. I remember back in the mid 60’s a local quick stop eating place would serve these POCKETBOOKS filled with a scoop of egg salad or ham salad…. OH my how wonderful to see this recipe. Mine are resting right now, waiting for the oven. This is such an easy recipe and surely brings back nice memories. They were called filled Pocketbooks with your choice of filling….
On May 10, 2010 at 2:09 pm
Jan Jones says:
OK…they are done and I wanted to pop back here and tell you that the recipe is awesome. I found that this was one of the easiest and nicest doughs to work with. I used lard. Make sure, as noted, you use a nicely floured board. I had NO trouble with sticking at all and the flavor of these are awesome. Thanks again….brings back some really nice memories and at my age it is nice to have those kind of memories. I had pockets full of tuna salad and egg salad with bacon crumbled and diced tomatoes on top…. just to sample the pockets using what I had in the fridge. Breakfast will see these beauties fill with scrambled eggs and sausage and melted cheese. BEAUTIFUL recipe…. thanks again.
On May 10, 2010 at 8:41 pm
CindyP says:
I never knew about the pockets! How neat! I will have to try it that way….an excellent sandwich idea! Thank you for that history.
On May 10, 2010 at 8:50 pm
betty babb says:
Excuse the drool….I can’t wait to try this recipe! So glad I stumbled onto this site, it is awesome!
On October 22, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Praiz says:
I just made these tonight, they are Great! My hubby likes a fluffy roll, but the recipes I’ve tried were dense – which is my preference. These were truely fluffy. Thank you for sharing the recipe. Thank you also Jan for the history, I can’t wait to try them like that too.
On January 29, 2011 at 9:13 pm
citalk2much says:
I use this same recipe they are so yum!
On December 14, 2013 at 1:07 pm