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Hawaiian Rolls - soft and sweet rolls recipe made with pineapple juice. Homemade Hawaiian buns are easy to make with simple ingredients and fail-proof.
Hawaiian Rolls Recipe
Hawaiian rolls are pillowy soft, fluffy and lightly sweet rolls from Hawaii, thanks to the use of pineapple juice and brown sugar. These King’s Hawaiian rolls are made famous by a bakery on the Big Island.
The pineapple flavor is subtle, but it gives these Hawaiian sweet rolls that familiar flavor we all love.
These Hawaiian rolls will become your new go to roll recipe for dinner as well as holidays such as Thanksgiving!
How To Make Hawaiian Rolls
The recipe begins with a sponge. The extra time allows for the dough to properly ferment and naturally mature the flour.
This step produces more depth of flavor and a lighter and fluffier texture.
I used a stand mixer to mix my dough. This is a very sticky dough and I added a few more tablespoons of flour to help the dough come together towards the end of the kneading process.
I divided the dough into 15 pieces, 3 across and 5 down.
Before baking in a 350 degree oven, brush the buns with an egg white mixture. This will give these sweet rolls a satiny and soft crust.
What To Eat Hawaiian Buns With
The most popular way to enjoy Hawaiian rolls is to make Hawaiian roll sliders.
You can fill these buns with Hawaiian Kalua pork, pulled pork, ham and cheese, chicken salad or egg salad.
These rolls can also be used in bread pudding; you can also cube them and bake them into croutons.
Baking Tips
- Use room temp canned pineapple juice. Fresh pineapple juice contains enzymes which will destroy the gluten.
- This dough can be shaped into 6 hamburger or hot dog buns.
- Equal amount of corn starch can be substituted for potato starch.
- You can reduce the amount of brown sugar for a less sweet version.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can freeze fully baked rolls for up to 3 months. Thaw to room temp and reheat at 300 degrees F for 10 minutes.
Instant yeast is preferred for this recipe. The instant yeast will produce a higher-rising bun. If you do use active dry yeast the rising should be 30 minutes longer with both rises.
Each Hawaiian bun is only 68 calories.
What To Serve With This Recipe
Serve the buns with butter or your favorite preserves, or make them into sliders.
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Hawaiian Rolls
Ingredients
Sponge
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 2 tablespoons water
Dough
- 1/2 cup canned pineapple juice
- 1/4 cup softened, unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, egg white reserved
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons potato flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- For the sponge: In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the sponge ingredients. Allow the sponge to rest for 15 minutes.
- Add the pineapple juice, butter, brown sugar, eggs and yolk, and vanilla, mixing until well combined. Whisk together the remaining flour, potato flour, and salt before adding to the liquid ingredients.
- Mix and knead until the dough is cohesive and smooth; it'll be very sticky at first. Beat with the flat beater of your stand mixer for about 3 minutes at medium-high speed.
- Scrape the dough into the center of the bowl, switch to the dough hook and knead for about 5 minutes at medium speed. It may have formed a very soft ball, but will probably still be sticking to the bottom of the bowl.
- Lightly grease the mixing bowl, round the dough into a ball, and place it in the bowl or measure. Cover, and let rise until very puffy, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
- Lightly grease a 9" x 13" (23cm x 33cm) baking pan. Gently deflate the dough. Divide it into 15 equal pieces. Round each piece into a smooth ball. Space the buns in the pan.
- Cover the dough gently with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in the pan for 1 hour, until it's nicely puffy. Toward the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C).
- Mix the reserved egg white with 1 tablespoon cold water, and brush some onto the surface of the rolls; this will give them a satiny crust. Bake the rolls for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the inside is cooked through.
- Remove the rolls from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes and turn them out onto a cooling rack. Serve warm with butter or your favorite preservers.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Great recipe! They turned out perfect! Didn’t have potato flour so I used bread flour, and I used fast acting yeast instead of instant yeast and let it proof 30 minutes longer for each proofing. Sooo goood!!!
Awesome thanks. Please try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
I am currently stuffing down my second roll, complete with butter and Apple butter made from last year’s apples. In my defense, they were dinner since pandemic nerves have kept me from eating much.
Thank you for sharing. I’ve always loved these rolls from the store but like most things, it’s better when homemade. The rest of these rolls will be outstanding with a smoked pulled pork I’m making tomorrow.
No problems making these, although I let the sponge go to probably 25 minutes. Mine puffed up and look as wonderful as the photo. (I might add just a touch more sugar next time for my sweet tooth;)
Hi Prissy, thanks for trying my Hawaiian rolls, please try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
Why in the world would you put a sponge in? Do you take it out before baking? Sounds gross.
Shirley, sponge is the baking term for the mixture of all purpose flour and water and yeast. It’s not a sponge sponge. Please read the heading of the recipe!
Hi! Don’t we need to warm the water for the sponge at such temperature ?
Thanks.
Can this recipe be doubled or tripled to make a bunch of rolls at one time?
Yes, you can!
This dough is very sticky, I had to add a lot of flour to get it to come together in order to shape a still sticky ball. However, the rolls raised beautifully and are delicious.
I will be making this recipe again. It will make a nice bread pudding, great sandwiches, burgers and I plan on using it for a homemade turkey stuffing……….
Thanks for recipe,
Dave
Yes, you need to add more flour to make it less sticky.
Bee,
Do you mix the sponge ingredients prior to resting?
Yes. For the sponge: In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the sponge ingredients. Allow the sponge to rest for 15 minutes.
Great!!
Here is a nice serving idea for these slider-sized buns. I’ve made this miniature sandwich using a commercial Hawaiian brand bun and with commercially baked challah bread (a brioche). This is a sweet, hot, savory flavored dish that I hope you will like.
Cut the ingredients to the size of the sliced bun, top with:
a slice of char siu (Chinese roast pork).
some cheddar cheese
BROIL until bubbling.
spread some sweet, hot mustard and serve. The Internet offers a lot of recipes for sweet, hot mustard but I make my own (which requires cooking).
This is very simple and rich but they are small. The bread recipe looks great. Need to try it. Thank you for all your recipes, ideas, and inspiration, Bee. Kind regards,
Hi Dorothy, yummy, sounds so delicious thanks for sharing.
These have to be on my Thanksgiving table, but will have to try them a few times before that day. Sounds sooo very yummy! Oh, my goodness… <3
Hi Joanne, yes, these Hawaiian rolls are amazing for Thanksgiving!
What’s the alternative for potato starch?
I think you can use corn starch.
The recipe says potato flour
Where does it ask for potato starch.