Ingredients
For the rolls:
- 1/2 cup canned pineapple juice (room temperature)
- 1/2 cup warm milk (100 – 110°F)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 2 whole eggs, lightly beaten
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt
- 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) instant yeast
- 4 1/2 cups (20 ounces) bread flour, approximately
For baking:
- 1 large egg
Directions
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Combine the pineapple juice, milk, melted butter, eggs, sugar, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add 2 cups of the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a rough, shaggy mass. Attach the dough hook to the mixer and turn to medium-low speed. Gradually add the remaining flour JUST until the dough comes together. You may not need all the flour depending on your kitchen environment and brand of flour. Continue kneading on medium-high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until a soft and smooth ball of dough forms.
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Place the dough in a clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until puffy and doubled in size, about 1 hour.
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Spray a 13x9-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Gently deflate the dough. Use a bench scraper or knife to divide the dough into 15 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and place in the prepared pan.
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In a small bowl combine the egg with 2 tablespoons of water. Brush all over the rolls. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise again until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
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Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°F.
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Bake the rolls for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.
Recipe Notes
Adapted from JW Food and Design and here
I’ve made 15 pieces and its yummy. I really like the taste and texture. I even put chocolate in the middle and huh it melted and love everything about it
I’m making these right now! I didn’t have enough room for 15 so I smushed 3 together into one big one. Lets see what happens. Lol
I’ve made four batches now and have to say I love this recipe! The dough definitely felt really sticky and didn’t seem done after I mixed the amount from the instructions, but once I let it rise the first time and pulled it out to shape, it wasn’t sticky anymore so don’t be too concerned! Like some other reviewers, I really wasn’t getting a good rise just on my counter, so I turned on the oven for a minute until it was maybe 100F, then turned it off and put my bread to rise in there. Definitely made a big difference!
This tastes fresher than the store ones and is a lot cheaper and healthier (as long as we don’t consider all the butter I spread on top when I’m eating it!)
I’m making these roll for Christmas dinner I’ll let you know then
OMGoodness! After a failed attempt with another recipe, I have found the perfect roll! Thank you for sharing this recipe with us and I look forward to many more pans full of deliciousness. Soft and light, with the perfect texture. Even using AP flour, they turned out divine.
I was so happy when I stumbled across this easy-read recipe. The past 3 friendsgivings ive hosted ive done a copy cat Texas Rd House bread and butter but the bread never came out right. Cant wait to try these tonight for friendsgiving tomorrow!
These have become a staple on my side and husbands side. All of them love this recipe! Thank you!
These rolls were amazing! The texture was perfect, nice and chewy. Mixed the dough in my bread machine and took it out to rise. The dough was perfect not sticky or dry at all. They could have been a little sweeter so so will probably add a little more sugar and add more pineapple juice and less milk. I also brushed on melted butter as soon as the rolls came out and it made the tops nice and soft. Definitely will be keeping this as a favorite recipe.
I made these yesterday, it I my wondering if I kneaded them too long. I had a nice ball that pulled away from the sides of the bowl, but I was trying to follow the time in the instructions, and my dough ball started falling apart and sticking to the bowl again. The rolls were good but a bit heavier than I thought they should be. Can’t you knead the dough too long?
Hi Tessa
I am going to make this recipe with active dry yeast ? Do the liquids have to be warm . How the yeast will rise if I use active dry yeast
Yet another version of these rolls that does not work for me. For some reason. I never get this dough to get even a first rise. It’s very perplexing.
How much all purpose flour would I use instead of bread flour?? In ounces please.
Someone commented that all the flour wasn’t incorporated. To me she meant that the dough didnt take in all the flour or there was too much flour. She must have measured it wrong. I always weigh my flour.
Fantastic – Fantastic – Fantastic! I followed the ingredient list exactly and the results were amazing! Shared with my neighbors since I tripled the recipe and got all 5 star reviews from them. The only thing I did different was to prepare the dough as instructed and then I chilled it overnight in the refrigerator.
I’ve made this recipe twice and you couldn’t taste the pineapple or sugar at all. They taste fine but they just taste like a plain dinner roll. They also came out really heavy for a Hawaiian roll. That part might be my fault. I was wondering if you have any nutrition information for the recipe.
I made these just now, according to the recipe, and they are delicious! The only adjustment I made was that my rising time was longer for the last rise. I used my bread machine for the dough, and that worked fine. Thanks for a great recipe!
When putting the rolls into the fridge to bake the next day, should I put the egg/water wash on first before putting them in the fridge? Or put the wash on after taking them out of the fridge the next day?
I read somewhere else : If you want to use fresh pineapple juice: microwave the juice for 2 minutes until it reaches 200°F and allow to cool to lukewarm before using. The process of heating will kill any enzymes in the juice, which would otherwise destroy the gluten.
I’ve made these rolls twice and they came out fantastic each time. I want to try and make them and freeze the dough before I bake them next time, is this ok.
My first time making rolls. The recipe and instructions were perfect. Wonderful soft rolls and just a hint of sweetness! I will be making these often. Thanks
In the middle of making these now. I prefer to bake by weight but I must be missing where the weight measurements are? Do I need to click a button? Thanks!
hello! im making these right now, i let it rise the first time only to find out that it really didnt rise much at all :/ the only thing i did different is instead of covering it with plastic, i covered with a damp cloth like ive seen done in many other bread recipes. would that make a difference? i just didnt have plastic wrap handy. i formed them in balls anyways and have them covered not TOO tightly with press n seal.
I used my bread machine on the dough cycle to make these rolls and they turned out fantastic!
I followed the instructions exactly, but after one hour, it hadn’t risen much at all. So, I gave my oven about two minutes of preheat at 350 degrees, turned the oven off, turned on the oven light, and put in the covered bowl. Within a few minutes, the yeast woke up and it rose just fine over the next hour. Sometimes the yeast needs a little warm-up jolt!! Great recipe. Thanks.
These were delicious and very soft, which I love. However, the flavor and texture were a bit off for my taste. The recipe is a bit complicated with ginger, vanilla and coconut extracts, and I’m not sure if the large quantity of acid from pineapple juice and buttermilk are what may have affected the overall flavor and texture. I guess I prefer the basic Hawaiian roll recipe. The outcome wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t a favorite of our staff and clientele.
Is it ok to use all purpose flour for bread making? I don’t have bread flour. Thanks.
I live in S. Texas and I had to add an additional 1-2 cups of flour to a doubled recipe so it wouldn’t be so sticky and it would pull away from the bowl. I used AP flour. The flavor was really good but they were pretty dense, heavy. Was it because AP flour instead of bread flour? We wanted them soft and fluffy on the inside. I ended up with 36 rolls. New to baking with yeast. Any pointers greatly appreciated.
Hi Paul! It was definitely how much additional flour you added that created the dense texture. Even though you may need more flour since it’s humid where you live, it shouldn’t be that much. Probably 1/2 cup more at most. It’s better for the dough to be sticky then the final product to be dense. The dough will also lose a good amount of the stickiness as it rises. Hope that helps!
Hi! May I know what kind of milk (e.g. whole milk, 2% milk, skim milk, etc.) this recipe needs? If it’s whole milk, can this be substituted with something else because it’s hard to find whole milk where I live. Thank you!
Whole milk works best for baking! You may be able to get away with using 2%.
Hello!
I’m 15yrs old and I love Hawaiian bread and would love to try out this recipe
But I don’t have any bread flour; Is it ok if I use All-purpose flour?
I like weighing dough so get the rolls to bake the same size. How may ounces does each of these Hawaiian Roll weigh? One Ounce?
I don’t know off the top of my head, but what you can always do is weigh the entire batch of dough then divide that number by 15. That’ll be the amount each ball should be 🙂
Can you make these into hoggie rolls? I still there a difference between hoggie recipes and rolls? I’m wanting a Hawaiian hoggie a small a hot dog bun
These were delicious! They required about 5 extra minutes in the oven to get golden brown. The texture was more dense than the store bought Hawaiian sweet rolls, but they were yummy nonetheless.
These came out beautiful my family loved them
I attempted this and my kithenaid wouldn’t mix the dough. I just got the mixer and am so disappointed, my dough didn’t raise and I ended up pitching it. Any suggestions what I did wrong or why my mixer won’t kneed the dough?
Tessa,
Oh my goodness! Thank you for this timeless recipe.They are delicious!
Iris
Wow! These came out *fantastically*!!! So light and so fluffy! Great flavor! Definitely, this is now my go-to recipe for Hawaiian Sweet Rolls! Thank you so much for sharing! I am keeping this recipe!
I made these with a slight change I 1/2 USED HEAVY CREAM instead of milk 8tsp sugar…. I divided the dough using half for cinnamon buns and the other half into kaiser knots/ rolls i boiled ea knot 1 min in a water (2 cups) 1 tbs baking soda, 1tbs brwn sugar, brushed ea w egg wash topped a few w a sesame/poppy seed dried onion mix before baking. Made the perfect grilled chicken sandwiches and they made great breakfast rolls filled w sausage….mmmm delicious
One question – I’m assuming I use a 3rd egg for egg wash??? Thank you
I just made this and it’s delicious! I used 3/4 c pineapple juice instead of 1/2. It was really soft! Thank you for sharing your recipe.
I tried making this twice, both came out the same. I have a kitchen aid, i used warm milk and room temp pineapple juice, I used instant yeast. Realized the first one didn’t rise because the yeast wasn’t fresh so we tried it again using instant yeast. It also baked longer than 25 minutes and both came out as hard as hockey puck. They were still good but not as buttery, soft or fluffy… what could have gone wrong? I live in Ca (Belmont), i’m thinking it’s because the weather has been cold? Should I have heated the pineapple juice… wanna keep trying until i get this right. Love Hawaiian bread! Thank you!!!
Hi Alex, the pineapple juice should be at room temperature. It sounds like you may not need all of the flour the recipe calls for, or you may be over-measuring the flour which is really easy to do if measuring by volume with measuring cups. I would suggest using a kitchen scale to weigh the flour instead, or try to reduce the flour slightly. Bread baking usually needs some tweaking since every kitchen environment is a little different (temperature, climate, elevation, ingredients, equipment, etc.) If it’s cold then try adding 30 min to 1 hour to the rise time so you get a more fluffy texture. Good luck!
Only 2 1/2 cups of flour. Tessa obviously don’t know measurements. Please state weight instead of cups next time.
I’m not sure what you’re referring to, Kenny. The weight for the flour is listed in the recipe.
RE: Not all the flour is not being incorporated. I have followed the recipe to a T. Now what do I do? Too much money to waste.
Tessa — November 3, 2014 at 9:30 am
Not all the flour is not being incorporated? I really have no idea what the means!
I made two batches of these so we would have enough for visiting my family AND have some for leftover turkey sandwiches since I was in charge of rolls. The first batch rose so nicely it FILLED the 9×11 baking pan with 16 rolls. Even so, these were a bit too much bread for us, so when I got home this afternoon I halved the other batch and put them into the pan I brought home from mom’s. These are the PERFECT size for small turkey snack sandwiches and I got 30 rolls instead of 15 (one pan had 15, the other had 16).
Also, in case anyone else uses it instead of traditional flour from the USA, I used caputo tipo 00 pizzeria flour with 4 tsp. king arthur gluten and they turned out like a dream! I’m able to eat this flour without any side effects so long as I eat it in moderation, but it’s from Italy and doesn’t have any junk added to it. Maybe that’s why.
LOVE the recipe – shared it with all my friends and family. Happy Thanksgiving!
How do you keep the milk and pineapple juice from curdling? I’m trying to use active dry yeast instead of instant. I warm the milk and then add the pineapple juice and it becomes a cheese. Please help
A friend of mine made her own Chinese style roast pork. I suggested she use Hawaiian dinner rolls in order to create char siu (baked pork buns). I am making these for her. Maybe she can recreate the buns! Very happy I found your site. Your community is very active. They have offered so many tips! Thank you one and all!.
I made these twice and both times they came out flat and heavy like hockey pucks. I was so excited to make them also. Used the right yeast. Used the right flour. Leveled the flour. They never really rose thou when I let them sit. Used a Kitchen Aide to mix. Bread/Rolls skills I do not have. Bummed.
Hi Varina, it sounds like your yeast may have been dead and that’s why they didn’t rise. There’s instructions for checking for freshness here: https://handletheheat.com/ultimate-guide-measuring/
Also, it’s really important that the other liquids (even the melted butter) aren’t too hot. Anything beyond 120°F and the yeast will begin to die.
Can you taste the pinepple juice?
It ends up just tasting tropical 🙂
I just baked these today. They came out perfect! I had to add an additional 1/4 cup of flour because the dough was too sticky. It was a little hot and humid today. Wonderful recipe. Thank you!
I’m glad you made the recipe work for you!! Those humid days can really affect your dough! Enjoy xo
I made these exactly as written, and they turned out fantastic! They tasted identical to the original Hawaiian rolls! I will be making these again and again! Made sliders and they were wonderful. Thanks, Tessa!
Glad to hear that, Valerie! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I made this on the dough cycle of a bread machine and used in dough to make hot dog buns in a New England hot dog bun pan! There was enough dough for the buns and 6 rolls. Taste great. I did make one small change-I subtracted a quarter cup of bread flour and added a quarter cup of potato flour, cause I find it makes the texture softer and moister. But, boy, these are great!
That’s great!! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Bravo on the Hawaiian buns recipe! I got great rise and texture. I tried to mold them into 8 big hamburger buns, worked out pretty well and they were very dark brown at 15 minutes. Not burnt and the bottoms were only lightly browned on a silpat. I am very pleased with the results, thank you.
Glad to hear it!
I am noticing that all recipes for Hawaiian rolls call for “pineapple juice” yet original recipe there is none added. So why add?
Well, sometimes when you’re recreating a food that’s processed and packaged in the grocery store, it’s nearly impossible to use the same ingredients since we’re not in a manufacturing plant. The pineapple juice truly does give the same sweet and tropical flavor that the packaged ones have. I hope you’ll give it a try 🙂
These were amaaaazing .. when I tried them right out of the oven I died and went to heavean .. they are like pillows soooo soft and buttery and delicious .. thank you sooo much for the recipe
Yay! So glad you enjoyed the recipe xo
Wow these were really easy! I’m making them for the 5th time and my third variation. I do find I get up to 24 rolls per batch though. I’ve also made it into bread as well. This batch I’m using fifty percent wheat flour plus 4 tsp wheat gluten.
@Lola the flour not being incorporated means there is too much flour (measure using spoon to fill cup, then level off lightly; do not pack the flour in or you would use too much, ending in dry, tough baked goods).
Delicious!
Hi, Tessa. Could I substitute orange juice for the pineapple juice, or the syrup from a can of pineapple rings? Thanks so much.
I was lucky enough to visit Hawii and fell in love with the rolls. Your recipe was the 5th one I tried was about to give up Your’s was the last I was trying ! So glad I tried yours !!! Excellent ! Thank you
Thank you sooooo much for this easy delicious rolls. I just made with all purpose flour instead of bread flour because i didn’t havit on hand so i just used 4 cups and they turned out so yummy. My husband and son liked very much.
Afternoon,
I haven’t made these yet. Can’t wait to make. Can I use regular flour instead of bread flour or does it have to be bread flour? I’ve enjoyed your website. Thank you Thank you
Bread flour works best to make really nice and tall, round, and slightly chewy rolls but you should be able to get away without it.
Fantastic rolls! I mixed them in my bread machine on the dough cycle (it enables me to do other things for an hour and a half while the bread machine does the mixing, kneading and proofing). I put my rolls in 2 8″ round cake pans since I was giving some to a friend if they turned out well. They turned out perfect! I’m planning to use this same recipe for hamburger buns this weekend – give the brioche recipe a rest. As another reviewer mentioned, I make all my own bread so I’m not paying big bucks for a lot of things I can barely pronounce in my food. These are going to become a firm favorite for rolls, hamburger buns and sandwich rolls for pulled pork. YUM!