These vegan Parker House Rolls are soft, fluffy and buttery--the perfect bread roll to tear with your fingers and dunk into a savory gravy!
If you love soft, tender dinner rolls that let out little puffs of steam when you tear into them right out of the oven, welcome to your new favorite bread roll: these vegan Parker House Rolls.
Parker House Rolls, the story goes, were accidentally invented by an irate cook at Boston's historic Omni Parker House Hotel who, in a tizzy after a fight with a hotel guest, flung a batch of unfinished rolls into the oven. When he pulled them out the rolls had folded over, creating that distinctive half-moon appearance with a golden crust and a puffy, soft crumb.
I stayed at the Omni Parker House Hotel a few years back for work, but I didn't eat those famous rolls because I was vegan by then and Parker House rolls are made with eggs and milk and butter. Instead, over the years, I've perfected my own version of these fabled rolls, which are eggless, dairy-free and just as scrumptious.
Parker House dinner rolls need to be shaped a certain way, and no, it doesn't involve throwing the rolls into your oven with all the force you can muster.😉 But shaping the rolls is quite simple, and I've got a detailed photo guide below to demystify the process.
I hope you will make this vegan Parker House rolls recipe for your family and friends and love it as much as we do!
Table of Contents
Why you will love this recipe
- They are the perfect, fluffy vegan dinner rolls, slightly sweet, with a golden, slightly crusty crust and a soft, tender crumb.
- Their unique appearance makes them a showstopper. Shaping these rolls is quite simple and you can do it in no time at all, with results that will wow.
- They are super versatile. They are amazing as dinner rolls, to dunk into gravy or soup. But you can also eat these rolls for breakfast or for a snack with a dab of vegan butter and jam.
Ingredients
- Active dry yeast. You can use instant yeast instead.
- Soy milk. For the best results use a non dairy milk that is high in protein for these rolls.
- Baking soda
- Apple cider vinegar. This combined with the baking soda will help give the rolls a nice rise in the absence of eggs.
- Vegan butter
- Sugar. You need just a couple of tablespoons, to add a barely-there sweetness and to help the yeast multiply.
- Unbleached all purpose flour
How to make vegan Parker House rolls
1. Mix the yeast with two tablespoons of warm water. Let it stand until the yeast dissolves.
2. Mix lukewarm soy milk with melted butter, vinegar and sugar.
3. Add the soy-milk-butter-sugar mixture to the yeast in the bowl.
4. Add two cups of all purpose flour and the baking soda to the bowl and mix. Continue to add more flour, a quarter cup at a time, until a smooth, supple dough forms. I needed just under three cups. Continue kneading for a couple more minutes.
5. Form a smooth ball with the kneaded dough and place in an oiled bowl. Coat the top with oil. Cover with a tight lid or cling wrap and set aside in a warm spot for an hour.
6. After an hour the dough should have risen and doubled in size.
7. Knead the risen dough lightly and place on a lightly floured surface.
8. Roll the dough to about ½-inch thickness.
9. Use a 2-inch cookie cutter to cut out rounds from the dough. Roll up any scraps and cut out more rounds. I got a total of 12 rounds.
10. Use a chopstick or a straw to press lightly into the center of a round of dough, creating an indentation.
11. Create similar indentations in all rolls.
12. Fold each disc over along the indentation, creating a half-moon shape. Press down firmly on the edge with your finger to form a seal.
11. Place the rolls in an oiled, 13 by 9 inch baking pan. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and set aside to rise in a warm spot.
13. After an hour the rolls will be puffy and would have doubled in size. Brush them with some vegan butter and place in a preheated 425 degree oven. Bake 17 minutes or until golden brown on top.
14. Cool on a rack or serve warm.
Recipe FAQs
The protein in soy milk will help create a more golden and softer roll. You can use another nondairy milk, however, if you are soy-free, like almond milk, cashew milk or oat milk.
The rolls do have a bit of sugar in them but the sweetness is very mild, and you very likely won't taste it at all.
Yes. If you don't want to go to the trouble of shaping the dough into Parker House rolls, you can just make 12 rounds of dough after the first rise and place them in an oiled baking dish. The rest of the instructions for the second rise and baking temperature and time remain the same.
If you want to make these rolls whole wheat, substitute one cup of unbleached all purpose flour with whole wheat flour.
Yes, that's fine!
Tips for success
- You might not need all three cups of flour, or you might need a little more, depending on the humidity and the weather where you are. After the first two cups add the flour a little at a time until you get a smooth, supple dough that's easy to handle.
- When cutting out the discs of dough with a cookie cutter, lightly flour the cookie cutter edges and press down straight instead of wiggling the cookie cutter. If you don't have a cookie cutter, use a lid of a jar that's roughly two inches across to cut out the discs of dough.
- Rise times might vary depending on the weather in your neck of the woods. If you are in a warm climate, the dough might rise much faster than the hour specified in the recipe, which is fine. Just proceed with next steps once the dough has doubled.
- Don't let the dough rise for too long. This could ruin the flavor and weaken the gluten structure, resulting in flat, gummy rolls. Make sure you are around as the dough rises, so you can check on it and proceed with next steps once it's ready.
Storage instructions
- Refrigerate: Store in the fridge in an airtight bag or container for up to three days.
- Freeze: Freeze the rolls in a freezer safe bag or air tight container for up to three months.
- Reheat: Thaw rolls if frozen and reheat in the microwave for 15-20 seconds or in the toaster oven for 2-3 minutes.
More yummy bread roll recipes
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Vegan Parker House Rolls
Equipment
- Stand mixer or large mixing bowl
- Rolling pin
- Chopstick or straw
Ingredients
- 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (replace with 2 teaspoons instant yeast)
- 2 tablespoons water (lukewarm)
- 1 cup soymilk (lukewarm)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter (melted, plus more for brushing on top of the risen rolls)
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour (you might need a little more or less)
Instructions
- Mix the yeast with two tablespoons of warm water. Let it stand until the yeast dissolves, about five minutes.
- Mix lukewarm soymilk with melted butter, vinegar, sugar and salt.
- Add the soymilk-butter-sugar mixture to the yeast in the bowl.
- Add two cups of all purpose flour and the baking soda to the bowl and mix in a stand mixer with the dough hook attached, or using your hands. Continue to add more flour, a quarter cup at a time, until a smooth, supple dough forms. Continue kneading for a couple more minutes.
- Form a smooth ball with the kneaded dough and place in an oiled bowl. Coat the top with oil. Cover with a tight lid or cling wrap and set aside in a warm spot for an hour.
- After an hour the dough should have risen and doubled in size.
- Knead the risen dough lightly and place on a floured surface. Roll the dough to about ½-inch thickness.
- Use a 2-inch cookie cutter to cut out rounds from the dough. Roll up any scraps and cut out more rounds. I got a total of 12 rounds.
- Use a chopstick or a straw to press lightly into the center of a round of dough, creating an indentation. Create similar indentations in all rolls.
- Fold each disc over along the indentation, creating a half-moon shape. Press firmly on the edge with your finger to seal.
- Place the rolls in an oiled, 13 by 9 inch baking pan. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and set aside to rise in a warm spot.
- Fifteen minutes before you are ready to bake the rolls, preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit/220 degrees Celsius. Generously oil a 13 X 9 inch baking pan.
- After rising for an hour the rolls will be puffy and would have doubled in size. Brush them with some melted vegan butter and place in a preheated 425 degree oven. Bake 17 minutes or until golden brown on top.
- Cool on a rack or serve warm.
Recipe notes
- You might not need all three cups of flour, or you might need a little more, depending on the humidity and the weather where you are. After the first two cups add the flour a little at a time until you get a smooth, supple dough that's easy to handle.
- When cutting out the discs of dough with a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter, lightly flour the cookie cutter edges and press down straight instead of wiggling the cookie cutter. If you don't have a cookie cutter, use the lid of a jar that's roughly two inches across to cut out the discs of dough.
- Rise times might vary depending on the weather in your neck of the woods. If you are in a warm climate, the dough might rise much faster than the hour specified in the recipe, which is fine. Just proceed with next steps once the dough has doubled.
- Don't let the dough rise for too long. This could ruin the flavor and weaken the gluten structure, resulting in flat, gummy rolls. Make sure you are around as the dough rises, so you can check on it and proceed with next steps once it's ready.
- Refrigerate: Store in the fridge in an airtight bag or container for up to three days.
- Freeze: Freeze the rolls in a freezer safe bag or air tight container for up to three months.
- Reheat: Thaw rolls if frozen and reheat in the microwave for 15-20 seconds or in the toaster oven for 2-3 minutes.
Rebecca D
Any chance of making these gluten free?
Vaishali
Hi Rebecca, I haven’t tried a gluten free version so can’t say for certain but this would probably work with gf all purpose flour.
Anonymous
I am going to try with 1 to 1 gf flour. It should work.
Smanders
Vaishali! You’ve done it again. Yesterday- I saw a Parker house roll video from food wishes.com. Intrigued - I immediately searched for a vegan version recipe, the ones I found though seemed to be no different from regular rolls. Uninspired, I abandoned my Parker house dreams. I was delighted to see your post today. These look very intriguing- and delicious.
I just wanted to thank you again for sharing your amazing talents. I’ll leave a proper review and comment after I make these beauties. You’re the best!
Much gratitude from upstate New York. ❤️
Vaishali
Hi Smanders, so encouraging to read your comments! Thanks so much. I hope you'll try these--we are in love! 😍