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These Sweet Hawaiian Bread Rolls are soft, fluffy, and irresistibly good. Served up as a side dish, for sandwiches, or just to snack on their own, you’ll love these buns especially coming out fresh from the oven. You need very minimal ingredients to put together these delicious, fluffy bread rolls.
If you’ve ever had store bought King’s Hawaiian Bread Rolls before, then you’ll know that they’re absolutely pillowy, soft and fluffy with a lightly sweet taste to it. Whenever these sweet bread rolls are in the oven and the kid’s can smell it baking, they get so excited for dinner time. While the flavor is subtle, these Hawaiian rolls are lighty sweeter than regular dinner rolls but making them is just as easy as a regular roll.
Table of Contents
- Why You’ll Love These Homemade King’s Hawaiian Rolls
- Hawaiian Bread Rolls Ingredients
- How to Make Hawaiian Bread Rolls
- Tips to Make Homemade Hawaiian Rolls
- Frequently Asked Questions
- How to Store and Freeze Hawaiian Rolls
- What to Serve with Sweet Hawaiian Dinner Rolls?
- More Easy Bread Recipes
- Sweet Hawaiian Bread Rolls Recipe
Why You’ll Love These Homemade King’s Hawaiian Rolls
- Irresistible Flavor: The unique blend of sweetness and softness makes these rolls a treat everyone will enjoy.
- Perfect Texture: Light, fluffy, and slightly chewy, these rolls are perfect for sandwiches or as a side.
- Versatile Bread Rolls: Ideal for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even as a snack.
- Easy to Make: With simple ingredients and straightforward instructions, anyone can make these delicious rolls at home.
Hawaiian Bread Rolls Ingredients
- Flour– I used all purpose flour for this recipe because is more versatile. You can also use bread flour if you like.
- Yeast- Instant yeast is used to make this recipe.
- Unsalted butter- melted, but not hot. Use unsalted so it does not affect the sweetness of the recipe. Butter makes the dough rich.
- Eggs- room temperature, plus an extra egg as an egg wash for your rolls
- Lukewarm milk- warm water activates the yeast faster.
- Sugar- adding granulated sugar makes the dough sweeter.
- Pineapple juice- to add flavor and sweetness to the recipe. I used the juice from a pineapple fruit can.
- Salt-just a pinch to balance out the flavor.
How to Make Hawaiian Bread Rolls
Step 1: In a stand mixer, combine all-purpose flour, sugar, instant yeast, and salt. Mix with a whisk until just combined.
Step 2: Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add eggs, pineapple juice, milk, and vanilla extract. Using a hook attachment, blend on low speed for 5 minutes. Add in the butter gradually while mixing, and mix for 2 more minutes until the dough comes together.
Step 3: Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover with cling wrap, and allow it to proof for 1½ to 2 hours until it has doubled in size (Depending on the temeprature of your room).
Step 4: Punch down the dough and transfer it to a floured surface. Divide the dough into 15 equal-sized balls and line the dough balls into a 9 x 13 non-stick/lined baking dish (or spray with baking spray), 5 rows by 3. Cover and let the dough rest for another hour at least or until the dough balls doubles in size. (The cooler the room, the longer it takes).
Step 5: Bake. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush the dough balls with the egg wash. Place the baking tray on the middle rack of the oven and bake the rolls for 22-25 minutes until the tops are golden.
Step 6: Butter the buns. Once they come out of the oven, brush them with melted butter. Allow to cool for at least 5-7 minutes before serving.
Tips to Make Homemade Hawaiian Rolls
- Always check the expiry date on your yeast.
- Adjust sweetness: If you prefer the rolls to be more sweet, add an extra 1/4 cup of sugar.
- Proof the Yeast: If using active yeast, ensure your yeast is active by proofing it in warm milk with a bit of sugar before mixing it into the dough.
- Knead Well: Knead the dough until it’s smooth and elastic to develop the gluten properly.
- Let it Rise: Allow the dough to rise in a warm, draft-free area until it has doubled in size for the fluffiest rolls.
- Don’t Overbake: Keep an eye on the rolls in the oven and remove them when they are just golden brown to maintain their softness.
- Brush with Butter: Brushing the rolls with melted butter after baking to add a rich flavor and glossy color.
Frequently Asked Questions
Lukewarm temperature is between 110F and 115F. If the water or milk is too hot it will kill the yeast, and if it’s too cold, it will not activate it.
Yes, prepare the recipe as directed the day before. Store at room temperature on your counter in an air tight container. The next day you can warm them up in the oven before serving.
Yes you can freeze these rolls! See blog post below for more details.
Yes, you can prepare the dough and let it rise in the refrigerator overnight.
They stay fresh for up to 3 days when stored in an airtight container.
How to Store and Freeze Hawaiian Rolls
Storing: They stay fresh for up to 3 days when stored in an airtight container and up to 10 days if refrideragted .
Freezing: You can freeze fully baked dinner rolls in an airtight container for up to 3 months. When ready to enjoy, thaw the Hawaiian rolls at room temperature before warming them in the oven.
If you want to freeze them raw, you can freeze the rolls 10 minutes after shaping them into balls. When ready to eat, thaw them in the fridge over night. Then allow them to sit on your kitchen counter for 1½ – 2 hours until their size has doubled. Then follow baking instructions.
What to Serve with Sweet Hawaiian Dinner Rolls?
These delicious fluffy bread rolls can be served with almost anything. Here are some of my favorite dishes to serve it with.
Sandwiches: Use these rolls to make delicious mini sandwiches or sliders. Try my Boneless Roasted Turkey Breast recipe and make turkey sliders with any leftovers.
Main Dishes: These rolls pair perfectly with roasted chicken, pulled beef/ brisket, leftover turkey or fish. Dip it into my Easy Chicken Stew recipe.
Breakfast: Serve them with scrambled eggs, bacon, or sausage for a hearty breakfast.
Soups and Stews: They are excellent for dipping in soups like tomato bisque or hearty stews. Try it with my Creamy Tomato Soup recipe.
More Easy Bread Recipes
Sweet Hawaiian Bread Rolls are the perfect combination of flavor, texture, and versatility. With simple ingredients and easy instructions, you can create a batch of these delicious rolls that everyone will love. Serve them with your favorite dishes for a delightful meal experience.
If you try this recipe or any of my other recipes, please leave a star rating in the comment section below because I love hearing from my readers. Also follow me at Cookin’ With Mima on FACEBOOK |INSTAGRAM |PINTEREST for all of my latest social posts and recipes.
This recipe has been slightly updated from original post to replace the honey with sugar and new photos have been added for better user experience. The video still includes the honey version. See notes on recipe card for using honey.
Sweet Hawaiian Bread Rolls
Ingredients
- 4 cups cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 3 tsps Instant yeast
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 6 tbsps unsalted butter, softened
- 2 whole eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup pineapple juice
- ½ cup whole milk, lukewarm
- ¾ tsp salt
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
Egg Wash
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1 whole egg
- 2 tsps milk
Butter Glaze
- 2 tbsps unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- In a stand mixer, combine all-purpose flour, sugar, instant yeast, and salt. Mix with a whisk until just combined.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add eggs, pineapple juice, milk, and vanilla extract. Using a hook attachment, blend on low speed for 5 minutes. Add in the butter gradually while mixing, and mix for 2 more minutes until the dough comes together.
- Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover with cling wrap, and allow it to proof for 1½ to 2 hours until it has doubled in size (Depending on the temeprature of your room).
- Punch down the dough and transfer it to a floured dusted surface. Divide the dough into 15 equal-sized balls and line the dough balls into a 9 x 13 non-stick/ lined baking dish (or spray with non stick baking spray), 5 rows by 3. Cover and let the dough rest for at least another hour until the dough balls double in size.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush the dough balls with the egg wash and place the baking tray on the middle rack of the oven and bake the rolls for 22-25 minutes until the tops are golden.
- Once they come out of the oven, brush them with melted butter. Allow to cool for at least 5-7 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
- NOTES FOR USING HONEY. This recipe was adapted to replace honey with sugar. If you prefered the honey version, it was originally 1/4 cup of honey instead of 3/4 cup sugar. Add 2 tablespoons of flour to this recipe if you use honey instead. Users mentioned it wasn’t sweet enough that’s why it was adapted.
- Always check the expiry date on your yeast.
- Adjust sweetness: If you prefer the rolls to be more sweet, add an extra 1/4 cup of sugar.
- Proof the Yeast: If using active yeast, ensure your yeast is active by proofing it in warm milk with a bit of sugar before mixing it into the dough.
Let it Rise: Allow the dough to rise in a warm, draft-free area until it has doubled in size for the fluffiest rolls. - Brush with Butter: Brushing the rolls with melted butter after baking to adds a rich flavor and color.
- Don’t Overbake: Keep an eye on the rolls in the oven and remove them when they are just golden brown to maintain their softness.
Great recipe!!
I don’t see where the 1/3 cup of melted butter is added, so I’m going to add it with the rest of the wet ingredients, I hope that’s right?
Thanks for pointing that out! I added it in. It goes towards the end of kneading the dough.
You don’t have in the instructions to add the butter, so I missed it… I was wondering where I went wrong and realized it after watching the video… please add the butter to the instructions so other people do not waste ingredients and time. Thank you.
Sorry about that! I recently updated the recipe and missed that step. I just updated it.
I’m confused. Where you tell about how to make these rooks you say honey. But in the actual recipe it calls for sugar. So do you substitute 1:1 honey for sugar? Important because I don’t use sugar. Thanks.
Hi Deborah,
I was working on updating the recipe with new step by step photos. It was newly posted today. please check it out.
The rolls were delicious but the texture seemed almost cakey and slightly crumbly vs bread, any idea why that could have happened?
It could be the flour or the yeast. I recently traveled and when I made it here with different flour and yeast, it seemed off too. Some flour have different protein content in it. I am going to update the recipe asap so it comes out better for all types of flour.
Just made these, and while they are pretty good dinner rolls, they definitely didn’t taste like sweet Hawaiian rolls they are named after. Followed the recipe to the letter.
Not really sweet, as the pineapple juice doesn’t seem to add much, leaving the job of sweetening the bread to the honey, which really wasn’t up to the task if you’re using Hawaiian Sweet rolls as your target.
Wondering if others had better luck using sugar instead of honey?
Hello Chaz,
It’s impossible to get the same exactly recipe as the original brand. I did mention in the post notes you could add sugar if you like yours more sweet. Feel free to do so if you try they recipe again it wont affect it. You can even replace the honey amount with sugar as well and add more sugar to make it as sweet as you like. You will need no less than 3/4 cup to make it sweet. Also the sugar in the pineapple juice plays a role in the sweetness.
Wonderful recipe! Reminds me of my mother’s Portuguese sweet bread. Thank you! Much ❤️
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the review.
Very easy recipe. Will make again and again..instructions were very clear for a beginner. Thank you!
Thanks for the review Amanda. Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
The step for adding the salt is missing in the written instructions. I added it with the initial step of combining the yeast, pineapple juice and sugar. Other than that, I followed the recipe as written and it turned out great! The rolls were sweet and fluffy.
Thanks for letting me know I will edit it. Usually it’s added with the dry ingredients.
THANK you 💯🫶♥️🙏
Thank you too