This Hawaiian Rolls Recipe has just a hint of sweetness from pineapple juice. They are so so fluffy and easy to make. They make the best dinner rolls and are great for sliders.
When you need a soft dinner roll, you can’t go wrong with this sweet Hawaiian rolls recipe. It’s great for first time bakers, they’ll turn out scrumptious every time and you can make the dough the night before and bake them the next day.
Hawaiian dinner rolls have become my go-to yeast roll, and one the girls always ask for when they come home to visit. You’ll find them to be light and fluffy with just a little sweetness which makes them a perfect roll for almost any dish you might be serving.
Of course they’re great for a holiday meal or to bring to a potluck, learn some tips for how to keep dinner rolls warm so you don’t have to stress about having them done at just the right time. But they’re too delicious to save just for the holidays, try serving them with a simple chicken and wine dinner, or with hearty short ribs.
Make them smaller and you have an awesome roll for sliders to use for your bourbon burgers or slow cooker carnitas.
A friend of mine was talking about how much he missed the Hawaiian bread he could get when he lived on the West coast. I’ve only had King’s Hawaiian rolls from the grocery and this recipe is similar to those in that they’re soft and have a little sweetness to them.
Pineapple juice is the secret ingredient that gives these homemade yeast rolls their unique taste. This Hawaiian rolls recipe is just as easy as any other yeast roll and we absolutely love them. What’s even better is that they turn out perfect every time I make them, which is a lot!
Pro tip: If you don’t drink a lot of pineapple juice, I find it’s better to buy it in small cans so that you always have some on hand for when you want to make the best dinner rolls ever. If you bought a larger container, use the extra juice and make Hawaiian Cinnamon Rolls, or Slow Cooker Ribs, or you can freeze it.
Why you’ll love this Hawaiian Bread Recipe
- The slightly sweet rolls make a delicious dinner roll
- They’re soft and fluffy
- The dough can refrigerate overnight
- You can freeze and re-heat them (learn some tricks)
- They’re great for a holiday meal
- Make them smaller for sliders
Hawaiian Rolls Ingredients
- Yeast – you can use active dry or instant yeast
- Pineapple juice – it only takes a half a cup. Try buying this in the small cans or you can freeze it if you bought a large container.
- Pantry staples – Flour, sugar, eggs, milk, butter, vanilla, salt
How to make Hawaiian Bread Rolls
Step 1:
Dissolve the yeast in warm water until it’s foamy.
Step 2:
Add eggs, pineapple juice, sugar, vanilla, milk, and melted butter and combine.
Step 3:
Add flour and knead with a dough hook for about 10 minutes.
Step 4:
Let rise until double and divide into 16 balls.
At this point you can refrigerate overnight or let them rise one more time.
Step 5:
Bake and then brush with butter.
A nice addition to a savory meal. Perfect by themselves but as always, a little better with butter.
The best way for yeast dough to rise for Hawaiian Rolls
There are a couple of different methods for getting the best rise from yeast dough.
- Since dough likes humidity, if you live in a hot humid climate, cover it and put it outside. But this is a little unpredictable and won’t work in the winter.
- My favorite way to let yeast dough rise is in the microwave. Place an oven proof bowl filled with water in the microwave and bring it to a boil, about 6 minutes. Leave it in there and keep the door closed. Scoot the bowl of water to the side and add the bowl of covered dough and shut the door. The microwave will be warm and humid and the perfect out of the way place to let your dough rise.
- The other tried a true way is to turn the oven to 200º. Cover the dough and place in the oven and turn the oven OFF.
Storing Homemade Hawaiian Rolls
To store these fabulous rolls, place them in a ziplock or airtight container and store on the counter, the refrigerator will dry them out. If you need to store for more than a couple of days, place them in the freezer.
Can you freeze Hawaiian rolls?
Yeast rolls are almost as good frozen as when they are eaten right away. I’m not sure you’ll be able to tell the difference. There are two different options for freezing:
- After you bake the rolls, let them cool and wrap in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag. Let thaw and warm. Here are the best options for how to re-heat dinner rolls so they aren’t dry.
- You can freeze the dough after it has been made into balls. Remove from the freezer and let them warm up to room temperature before baking.
Hawaiian Rolls Recipe Tips
What type of yeast should you use?
I prefer to use Active dry yeast rather than Instant yeast. Instant yeast will work in these rolls but the reason I prefer Active dry yeast is that you know right away whether the yeast is alive or not. With Active dry yeast you have to dissolve it in water first. If you add a pinch of sugar the yeast will grow and you’ll know that your rolls will rise.
With Instant yeast, it doesn’t need to be dissolved, you just add it with the flour and hope for the best. As long as your yeast has not expired, this shouldn’t be an issue. Either will work, if using instant the rise time may be shorter.
Hawaiian Roll Recipe FAQs
Hawaiian rolls were made by King’s Hawaiian starting in 1950 by a local baker, Robert Taira on the island of Hilo, Hawaii. They were so popular that they couldn’t keep them on the shelves.
Hawaiian rolls are made sweet by the addition of pineapple juice.
Hawaiian rolls are similar to brioche in that they are both an enriched dough made with eggs, milk and butter. However, Hawaiian rolls have a hint of sweetness from the use of pineapple juice.
King’s Hawaiian bread began their bakery in Hawaii in the 1950’s and became an island favorite using pineapple juice to sweeten the dough.
Hawaiian rolls are soft and tender with just a hint of sweetness.
Hawaiian rolls are a type of dinner roll made with yeast.
What to serve with sweet Hawaiian bread rolls
- Not only are they a great dinner roll but the added sweetness makes them perfect for sliders with Slow Cooker Bourbon Chicken.
- Steak Marsala, the slightly sweet roll compliments the marsala sauce
- Great for when you grill chicken with Peach Glaze
- Delicious with Short Rib Chili
- You can also use them as a bun for Smash Burgers
MORE bread options
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Hawaiian Bread Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 package active dry yeast 2 ¼ teaspoon
- ¼ cup warm water
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup pineapple juice
- ¼ cup milk
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup butter melted
- 4 cups flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a small bowl dissolve yeast in ¼ cup warm water with a pinch of sugar. Let sit until slightly foamy.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the yeast mixture, eggs, pineapple juice, ¼ cup milk, sugar, vanilla and melted butter. When combined stir salt and flour into dough until a stiff batter is formed. Kneed for 10 minutes using a dough hook.
- Cover and place in a warm place and let rise for 1 hour. When doubled, punch the air out of the dough and turn onto floured surface.
- Divide into 2 equal pieces and then cut each piece into 8 sections for a total of 16 rolls. Form into buns forming them so that the seam is on the bottom and place in 2 buttered pie pans.
- Cover and let rise again until doubled, about an hour.
- Preheat oven to 350º. Bake for 15-20 minutes, then remove from oven and brush the tops with melted butter.
Barbara’s Tips + Notes
- You can refrigerate the dough overnight after it has been formed into balls. Remove form the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking.
- It will make about 24 sliders.
- These freeze very well, just thaw and rewarm.
Nutrition
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They were yummy and a hit with all the family for Mother’s Day.
So glad you liked them. If you still have pineapple juice left you might want to try Hawaiian Cinnamon Rolls!
These turned out amazing! I was a little intimidated by the prep time. But i cheated and used my bread machine. I put the flour and salt into the bread machine then mixed the wet ingredients in a medium bowl and wisked them together with the acception that i still mixed the water and yeast as stated in the recipe before incorporating it into the wet mixture. Then poured the wet ingredients into the bread machine and ran it on the dough cycle which did the work for the first hour and a half. Then followed the recipe from punching air out of the dough and dividing. Very pleased with the results!
I don’t have a bread machine, so I’m glad to hear you could adapt the recipe to work in one. Thanks for sharing!
Did you use all purpose flour or bread flour? I have seen recipes for both. I want to make them for my son who loves this type of roll.
I use all purpose flour, hope he enjoys them.
Thanks!!!
I’m not sure what I did wrong here, but after my first mix, reading that I was to let the stiff batter rise for an hour, it look like everything was fine. But I bet I had to add minimum 2 cups more flour to even turn it into a malleable dough. It was a sticky mess. We’ll see how the rolls turn out, but I wish I would have only added a quarter cup pineapple juice rather than the half cup called for.
I’m not sure what could have gone wrong, it must be the amount of flour you added, or could be you had extra large eggs. I would just add more flour until the dough is manageable. I hope they turned out ok.
I am just making this , but the dough is like sticking to my fingers, Is it supposed to be like that?? I add it a little more , but I did not see much difference.
It should not be that sticky, I would try adding a bit more flour.
Hi love these buns but last time I made them they came out quite hard on top and a bit doughy in the middle where did I go wrong
It could be a couple of things. I would start with your flour, these days we are getting whatever flour we can find and that can make a difference. It could be you added too much flour, this should be a sticky dough. The humidity can contribute to the outcome also, the more humid the better. I’ve made these a million times and I either use King Arthurs flour or Bob’s Red Mill. My third choice would be White Lilly. Don’t give up on them, bread is a finicky thing, I would try a little less flour next time.
Thanks I’ve just made them again this morning and they are lovely I used a different brand of flour so I think it must have been the problem
Thanks
Lorraine
So glad they worked!
Is there a way to make this into two 8′ pan loaves?
Once you roll them into balls you can place them in any type of pan. You might need to adjust the time of baking.
I made this recipe to the T and I was very disappointed in the taste. They were too dry and fell apart as I took them from the pan. Sorry.
It could be that they cooked too long. I’m sorry they didn’t turn out for you, that’s so disappointing, they’re one of my favorite rolls.
Can you use an electric hand mixer for this?
If your hand mixer is strong powerful enough to knead the dough. If not manually knead until the dough is smooth, you’ll get a good workout!
How would you recommend storing the rolls after you make them to keep them soft?
I would put them in a ziplock bag after they’ve cooled and leave them at room temperature for a few days or freeze them. If you refrigerate them, they can dry out.