Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
Lightly sweet and super fluffy Hawaiian sweet rolls are perfect with a little butter for breakfast, as dinner rolls, or buns for your burgers. Or turn these Hawaiian sweet rolls into french toast – the possibilities are endless!
Okay, well, I guess I can eat hawaiian sweet rolls all day if I must. Because when these cuties are in the oven, that smell speaks to me. Game. Over.
I have a dysfunctional relationship with bread. And when I say it’s dysfunctional I mean it’s almost submissive. OKAY it is submissive. Mostly on my part. Bread says, eat me. I follow. In fact, that’s exactly what my relationship is like with all carbs. Sigh.
As of lately, we’re both obsessed with homemade Hawaiian sweet rolls. In fact, we’ve got our friends obsessed with this bread too! It’s contagious.
My favorite way of eating these hawaiian sweet rolls is from the inside out. Yes, that’s right. I eat the soft, pillow-like center and work my way outwards.
These rolls are just like the Kings Hawaiian rolls that are widely available in stores. I think i’ll go as far as to say *whispers* they’re a little bit better! (insert monkey-covering-his-mouth emoticon here)
A couple points I want to cover about this hawaiian sweet buns:
1. They’re perfect soft and delicious when fresh.
2. Perfectly toastable if you desire a soft inside with a crispy outside.
3. Totally French toastable.
4. Make them. Eat a few. Freeze the rest. Or eat the entire pan of rolls. Totally up to you!
I generally feel super intimidated by making bread or rolls or buns or any other kind of bread products. So these homemade Hawaiian sweet rolls were kind of a ‘big dill’ for me.
I’ve made these rolls a few times now and every single time I’ve had success. I’ll share the tips I’ve used and try to make the directions as clear as possible for you because I want you to make these rolls. In fact, you have to make these rolls.
Is there anything worse than waiting for your dough to rise, punching it down, and baking it into small, dense, rocks? I think not. I absolutely hate it. And it’s a major reason why I don’t bake bread often. CONFESSION: Hi my name is Marzia and i’m afraid of baking all yeast bread products. But this is a winner! I’m never letting this recipe go. Not ever.
I seriously wish that your screen was scratch and sniffable. Because words can-not describe how mindblowingly delicious these hawaiian rolls smell.
If you are not a bread maker, don’t freak out. I’m going to baby-step walk you through this process. Even if you are slightly weird and have no interest in eating bread, or toasting it and smothering it with butter, or frying up these Hawaiian rolls dunked in my creme brulee french toast mix, just do it for the smell. For reals. You won’t be sorry.
Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
Lightly sweet and super fluffy hawaiian sweet rolls are perfect with a little butter for breakfast, as dinner rolls, or buns for your burgers. Or turn these hawaiian sweet rolls into french toast - the possibilities are endless!
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup milk, warmed (warm for 30 seconds and let cool for 2 minutes before using)
- 1 tablespoons of active dry yeast (see note*)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (or canola oil)
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) salted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- An 8 oz. can crushed pineapple, NOT drained (about 2/3 cup)
- 4 cups + 1 cup all purpose flour (or bread flour)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the tops:
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
- DOUGH: In a measuring cup or a small bowl, mix together the milk and yeast. Let it sit for about 5 minutes. Place the milk and yeast mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Add the oil, butter, sugar, eggs, and pineapple and mix to combine. Add the 4 cups of flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Waiting until each 1/2 cup is fully incorporated before adding more. Depending on where you're located and how humid your weather, you may need to add that extra 1 cup of flour. Your dough should be sticky to the touch, and it should hold for a few seconds on the dough hook. If it's sticking to the walls of the mixer, add that 1 cup in. Remember, it should be sticky, but not gooey. Add the salt. Knead for about 10 minutes, in the machine. Cover with a damp cloth and let the dough rise for 1 hour.
- PREP: Oil a 9x 13-inch pan. Punch the dough down and divide into twelve equal balls for jumbo rolls and 24 balls for Hawaiian king-sized rolls. Place in a well buttered dish and let rise again until doubled, 1 hour.
- BAKE: Preheat oven to 350ºF. Beat together the egg and water for the top and brush the tops of the risen rolls with the egg wash. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the tops are nicely browned. Serve warm with additional butter.
Notes
- If you purchase your yeast in small envelopes, you'll need more than 1 packet. Each packet contains 2 1/4 teaspoons. So you'll need an additional 3/4 teaspoon to make the 1 tablespoon. (1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons)
- Recipe adapted from Yammie's Noshery
Guys, the woman does not lie. These little rolls are *divine*, reminded me of my childhood in Pakistan. My favorite way to have them is to slice them up, (I think I feel less guilty if I have a thin slice at a time lol) coat with a thin (or thick mmm) layer of butter, and gobble it all up!
Glad you devoured them slowly Fariha!
Butter + bread are a match made in heaven!
WARNING: Author forgets to mention the TWO HOURS of proofing (rise) time that’s needed. The “Total time: 40 mins” label severely screwed me. That’s another reason why they say to read the entire recipe before starting.
You’re right! It is always best to read the recipe prior to preparing. It is mentioned in the recipe, unfortunately the time stamps do not allow me to insert a ‘proofing time’. I’ve gone ahead and bolded it in the recipe though, so no one misses it. Thanks for pointing that out!
can this recipe be halved?
Hi Christina. I’m unsure. I haven’t tried making a half batch. These hawaiian rolls do freeze well so you can always make the whole batch and freeze half is you’d like.
If you do end you halving the recipe, please let know if it was successful! Thanks!
Excellent! They have a texture and flavour reminiscent of croissants, or maybe brioche, crossed with cinnamon buns but they are far less hassle to make than any of the above.
I’d been hunting around for a good breakfast roll recipe and these landed in my inbox via ziplist. They look exactly like the photos and taste lovely.
Notes: I don’t have a mixer so blended in the flour by hand, it worked fine. Maybe it;s because I’m in Canada and our flour has a high gluten content, but I only needed 3 cups to achieve the desired soft, slightly tacky consistency.
Since I rarely use dairy milk, I substitured the vanilla soymilk already in my fridge, and it worked no problem, in fact it complimented the buns nicely.
I suspect, as is the case with cinnamon buns, that it would be possible to put these into the fridge overnight for their second rising, bring them to room temperature in the morning and then pop them into the oven. Fresh rolls for breakfast, yum!
Thank you very much for posting, 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed them Sonja!
It was helpful of you to point out the flour difference. I’m sure it will help others too!
Thanks! =)
These were very good; thank you for sharing this recipe! My family loved them and they were quick and easy to throw together! The only thing I would do differently is add a bit more salt to the dough (I’m going to try a teaspoon next time, as I will definitely be making these again). Also, instead of brushing with the egg wash, I brushed them with melted butter before and after baking. Delicious!
Can the bread dough me made using a bread machine?