Buttery Milk Buns

These buns are a hybrid of two holiday-ready favorites: Parker House rolls and milk bread buns. The former, invented about 150 years ago at Boston’s Parker House Hotel, feature a folded-over shape and lots of melted butter. The latter relies on a tangzhong starter to create their characteristic pillowy texture. (Tangzhong is the Chinese method of precooking a small portion of a recipe’s starch and liquid, like flour and milk, to create a thick paste that then gets integrated with the rest of the dough ingredients.) Here you’ll mash up a milk bread dough with the Parker House folding technique, creating a rich, plush bun that’s as great on its own as it is sopping up gravy and mashed potatoes.