These melt-in-your-mouth dinner rolls, from Claire Saffitz’s cookbook Dessert Person, are even more tender and pillowy than the classic Parker House rolls that inspired this recipe. That’s thanks to the addition of tangzhong, a white roux made from flour and milk cooked to a stiff paste, often used to make Japanese milk bread. The cooked starches in the tangzhong help the dough retain moisture and keeps the rolls super soft and light. The slight onion flavor of chives and tang of sour cream give them oomph. They’re as equally excellent at mopping up gravy as they are at holding the contents of a leftover turkey sandwich. “If food could give you a hug, these rolls definitely would,” says Claire.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and stretch into a square.
Roll out, dusting with more flour as needed to prevent sticking, to a 12" square and sprinkle chives evenly over dough.
Starting at one end, loosely roll up dough. Flatten with the heel of your hands into a long rectangle. Roll out dough again, dusting with more flour as needed, into a 16x6" rectangle.
Using a wheel cutter or bench scraper, cut dough into twenty-four 2"-squarish pieces (an 8x3 grid).
Working with 1 piece of dough, gather all the corners and pinch together to form a teardrop shape. Place seam side down on work surface. Cup your hand over dough and drag across surface, moving your hand in a rapid circular motion, to form dough into a tight ball. Do not add flour, as you want friction between the dough and the surface. Place ball in prepared pan and repeat with remaining pieces of dough, spacing to make a 6x4 grid. Cover pan with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm, draft-free spot until rolls are nearly doubled in size, 45–60 minutes.
Using a fork, whisk remaining egg in a small bowl until no streaks remain. Uncover pan and gently brush tops of rolls with egg, then sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Bake rolls until tops are deep golden brown, 25–30 minutes.
Remove pan from oven and immediately brush tops with remaining 2 Tbsp. butter. Let cool in pan 5 minutes. Slide a knife or an offset spatula around sides of pan to loosen rolls, then slide a metal spatula underneath to loosen the bottom. Slide entire grid of rolls out and onto a wire rack. Serve warm or let cool.