Soft + Sweet Sourdough Hawaiian Bread Rolls
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These soft and sweet sourdough Hawaiian Bread Rolls are enriched with butter, milk and egg.
Made with active sourdough starter, these Hawaiian rolls contain no commercial yeast. Their soft, buttery goodness will have everyone asking for more!
Sweet Sourdough Hawaiian Bread Rolls are something you need to put on your sourdough to do list!
Enriched with butter, milk and egg, with a sweet tang from pineapple juice and of course your active and bubbly sourdough starter. This is a recipe you'll want to make again and again.
How To Make Sweet Sourdough Hawaiian Bread Rolls
While these rolls do have quite a few ingredients in comparison to plain sourdough dinner rolls, the process is very easy and most of the time you'll spend making them will be waiting for them to rise!
You can choose to make them whatever size you'd like. I find that this recipe makes around 12 rolls at 80g (I use a scale to ensure they are all the same size but you don't have to). The tin I use fits 9 rolls at 110g each.
The easiest way to make them consistent is to weigh your dough at the end of bulk ferment. Divide the weight of your dough by the number of rolls you'd like to make.
Then weigh each piece of dough as you shape them - adding or removing dough as necessary so they all weigh the same.
Ideally you want them to be within a few grams of each other for consistency.
Making your rolls all the same size will ensure they cook evenly in the oven. This is particularly important because you want to ensure the rolls are cooked all the way through before they start to burn on the top.
Here's the basic process for making Sourdough Hawaiian Sweet Rolls:
- Add the milk, butter, pineapple juice, sugar, salt, egg and vanilla to the bowl of your stand mixer, mixing it through gently.
- Now add your flour and sourdough starter to the liquid in the bowl. Mix the flour and sourdough starter through the liquid so it just comes together.
- Knead the dough using your stand mixer until it forms a silky, slightly tacky dough.
- Once the dough is sufficiently kneaded you need to let it ferment and rise. You want it to come to just under double. (see notes)
- Once your dough has risen you need to shape it into the rolls.
- Arrange the dough balls into a parchment lined tin or an oiled baking dish. They need to be just touching each other in the tin.
- Cover the tin with a tea towel and allow the rolls to double in size.
- Once the rolls have doubled, brush generously with butter and bake them.
- Take them out of the oven and brush immediately with melted butter and honey (this is completely optional but gives your rolls a lovely sheen).
- Once cooked, place your rolls onto a cooling rack to cool slightly before tearing apart and enjoying them!
Baking Notes for Sourdough Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
Here are a few tips, tricks and explanations for baking your sweet sourdough Hawaiian bread rolls:
- You can use bread flour for this recipe, but all purpose is better. You'll get a softer roll as the protein content is generally lower. They will still be soft if you use bread flour, but will have a slight chew to the bite.
- I choose to make these in a stand mixer because it makes them quick and easy to throw together. You can knead the dough by hand - you will need to knead it until it's soft and silky and still slightly tacky.
It's very easy to work with so you shouldn't have any trouble. One tip for doing it by hand - do not add extra flour, just keep kneading until it comes together. Extra flour will alter the texture of the cooked rolls.
- These sweet sourdough Hawaiian bread rolls are perfect to make in the Thermomix. Just utilise the knead function to knead the dough to make the dough with ease.
- You can bake these rolls in a square tin or a round tin - even a spring form tin, depending on how you want them to look. If cooking in a tin, place some parchment paper inside to stop them sticking. If I cook them in a baking dish, I generally just oil the dish. Do what works for you.
- Placing these into a cold oven and then turning it on means that the crust will not form too quickly and won't burn (you'd be surprised how quickly it can burn if you have them too hot). They will puff up beautifully and be just golden on the top.
- These soft sourdough rolls are best served warm. When you take them out of the oven, let them sit on a cooling rack for around 15 minutes before breaking them into individual rolls.
Baking Timeline For Hawaiian Sourdough Rolls
This recipe has 100g of sourdough starter - you can reduce the amount of starter if you wish to ferment the rolls overnight.
I would not however recommend increasing the amount of starter as it will make the dough too sticky. It's perfectly safe to ferment them overnight with milk, egg and butter in the dough.
You can read more about creating a baking timeline to suit you here.
Serving Ideas for Sweet Sourdough Hawaiian Rolls
These sweet sourdough rolls are perfect just on their own - seriously try not to eat them all at once! But just in case you need some inspiration, these are some of the ways that we use them in our home:
- Cut them in half and add good quality ham and cheese. Place all the buns back into the tin and brush with butter and french onion seasoning. Grill until bubbling and golden. Grilled cheese just got taken to a whole new level!
- Cut them up and use in a sweet bread pudding.
- They are delicious filled with pulled pork, bbq sauce and coleslaw (this is my family's favorite way to enjoy them).
- For a sweet treat, serve these rolls with a dish of whipped honey cinnamon butter. You could even brush them with this butter after they're baked.
- For a spicy treat, serve these rolls with a dish of whipped jalapeño honey butter - it's a match made in heaven!
When serving them at the table, I like to place a linen cloth or tea towel into a basket, pop the buns in it and then cover them with the cloth to keep them warm.
You could even place a wheat pack that's been heated in the microwave in the bottom of the basket before placing the cloth on top. This will keep the buns soft and warm.
Freezing & Reheating the Sourdough Hawaiian Buns
These sourdough Hawaiian buns can be frozen.
I advise freezing once they are cooked and cooled thoroughly. If freezing, do not pull the rolls apart, leave them in one whole piece. Place into a ziploc bag, seal tightly and freeze.
When they are defrosted, wrap them in aluminium foil and place into a warm oven until they're warmed through.
You can brush with melted butter and honey just before you serve if you want to. Once warm, pull them apart.
Frequently Asked Questions About Hawaiian Rolls
Once you've shaped the Sourdough Hawaiian Rolls and placed them into their baking tray, you'll need to leave them to complete the second rise (also known as proofing). The rolls will be proofed when they are puffy and rounded. If you poke them, the dough will spring back slowly, leaving a slight indent. If it springs back too quickly, they need a bit more time to rise.
Of course you don't have to - however brushing the Hawaiian rolls with honey butter when they're done gives them a gorgeous gloss and added sweetness. It also softens the tops too, which is the desired texture for Hawaiian buns. For something a little different, you could brush them with Jalapeño Honey Butter or Whipped Honey Cinnamon Butter.
You can shape any sourdough dough into rolls - however it's easiest to do with an enriched dough that is nice and elastic (like with Sourdough Hawaiian Roll dough). If you use a regular sourdough dough it will be too sticky to create the rolls.
You can make "mini sourdough" using the same sourdough recipe you use for a larger loaf. You'll just need to divide the dough into however many mini sourdough you wish to make. You can find more information on making mini sourdough here.
No - discarding is an essential part of developing a thriving sourdough starter. If you do not discard, your starter will grow exponentially and eventually take over your kitchen (sounds funny - but it's true!). Discarding also helps to regulate the acidity of your sourdough starter. If you wish to read more on this subject, this is a great read.
Further Reading
If you love this recipe, you'll love these ideas:
- Want quick sourdough hamburger buns? Why not try these sourdough discard hamburger buns?
- Sourdough Hot Dog Rolls are quick and easy to throw together - you don't even need to go to the store!
- For a quirky bun alternative, these sourdough English Muffins are perfect!
Sweet + Soft Hawaiian Sourdough Bread Rolls
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Digital Scale
- Baking Tray
Ingredients
- 80 g Milk
- 40 g Butter Melted
- 200 g Pineapple Juice
- 20 g Brown Sugar
- 530 g All Purpose Flour
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 5 g Vanilla Extract
- 100 g Sourdough Starter Fed and Bubbly
- 10 g Salt
Topping
- 20 g Butter
- 20 g Honey
Instructions
- Add the milk, butter, pineapple juice, sugar, salt, egg and vanilla to the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix the ingredients together so that the sugar and salt are dissolved and everything is mixed through. It won't take long, like 30 seconds - you just don't want gritty sugar and salt through your dough.
- Now add your flour and sourdough starter to the liquid in the bowl. Mix the flour and sourdough starter through the liquid so it just comes together.
- Depending on the type of mixer you're using, you may need to add your dough hook on for the next step. You want to knead the dough using your stand mixer until it forms a silky, slightly tacky dough. The dough is enriched with butter, milk and egg so will be glossy. It will generally come away from the sides of the bowl when it's done. It can take anywhere from 3 to 8 minutes depending on the type of stand mixer you're using.
- Bulk Ferment:Once the dough is sufficiently kneaded you need to let it ferment and rise. You can leave it in your stand mixer bowl for this (saves washing up) or you can transfer it to another bowl if you like. Cover the bowl with plastic or a damp tea towel and let it bulk ferment. As always, the time it takes will depend on your starter and the temperature in your home. You want it to come to just under double. (see notes)
- Shaping Your Rolls:Once your dough has risen you need to shape it into the rolls. This recipe will give you 12 rolls around 80g in weight. In the picture I've done 9 rolls at 110g each.To shape the dough, tip it onto your counter (you won't need flour as it won't be a sticky dough). Using a metal dough scraper, cut the dough into 12 pieces. I like to use a scale to ensure that all the pieces are exactly the same. Gently shape each piece of dough into a round ball. Arrange the dough balls into a parchment lined tin or an oiled baking dish. They need to be just touching each other in the tin.
- Second Rise:Cover the tin with a tea towel and allow the rolls to double in size. They will look puffy and squished - this is good! It will generally take around 2 hours for them to double - but of course will take longer if your house is cold.
- Baking The Rolls:Once the rolls have doubled, brush generously with butter.Place the rolls into a cold oven set to 180C (350F) and bake for around 30 minutes. You'll know they're done when they are golden on top. Because these rolls contain milk and sugar, they are prone to burning on top so just keep an eye on them. (see notes)
- Take them out of the oven and brush immediately with melted butter and honey (this is completely optional but gives your rolls a lovely sheen).Once cooked, place your rolls onto a cooling rack to cool slightly before tearing apart and enjoying them!
Notes
Nutrition
