This is one of those recipes you make, and you’ll be amazed you made it yourself. These Buttery Homemade Hawaiian Rolls are full of sweet flavor, and they come together surprisingly easy. A pineapple juice sweetened dough is rolled into balls, then the end result is brushed with butter. Make these for your family and friends, and you’ll have a permanent spot at their dinner table (and maybe in their lives, because these are so good).
Homemade Hawaiian Roll Recipe
I have bought Hawaiian Rolls so many times over the years. I love to make rolls from scratch, in fact our One Rise Roll Recipe went viral about 10 years ago. My son loves store bought Hawaiian Rolls so much I wanted to make them from scratch, and feel a little better about him eating 3 in one sitting (wish I was kidding).
Ingredients:
- Pineapple Juice
- I recommend buying cans. They’re easier than trying to find a way to use a half gallon of pineapple juice!
- Sugar
- Yeast
- Butter
- Vanilla Extract
- Eggs
- Flour
- You can use bread flour, or regular with this recipe. Bread flour will yield a little more tender of a roll.
- Salt
Making Homemade Hawaiian Rolls
The first step to these rolls is heating pineapple juice. You want it to be between 100-110 degrees fahrenheit. I microwaved mine in a small glass microwave safe measuring cup. I recommend microwaving it in 30 second increments until you get to roughly 105 degrees fahrenheit using an electronic thermometer.
We’re going to bloom the yeast in the pineapple juice. Be cautious not to heat the juice past about 110 degrees, high heat can kill the yeast, which would result in flat rolls. Nobody likes flat rolls.
In a stand mixer, combine the warm pineapple juice, sugar, and yeast. Let it stand for about 5 minutes. The yeast should be blooming (fluffy and foamy) in the pineapple juice. Add in the remaining sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and eggs. Turn on the stand mixer and allow it to mix these ingredients until fully incorporated.
Add 2 cups of flour at at time, and allow the stand mixer to work the dough. If the dough is sticky, add about 1/2 cup of extra flour if needed. The texture of the dough should pull apart from the bowl with ease, leaving no residue.
Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise for about 1 hour.
Baking Hawaiian Rolls
After about 1 hour, the dough should be roughly doubled in size. This recipe makes 12 Hawaiian Rolls. You can use a scale to divide them out evenly, but there is also no harm in using your eyeballs. They don’t need to be an exact science, just roughly the same size so that they bake evenly.
Divide the dough into 12 evenrolls, and place them in a glass baking dish (sprayed with nonstick spray). Cover with a dish towel, and let them rise once more, for about an hour.
Pro Tip: If you’re in a hurry, place the rolls in a laundry room, or other warm location to speed up the second rise. After the second rise, preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit and bake for about 20 minutes. The rolls are done when they’re golden brown.
Buttery Homemade Rolls
Once the rolls are baked, brush them with butter to finish them off. Now the best part, they’re ready to eat! These rolls keep for up to 2 days in a sealed container. I’ll be honest, I think they’re best the same day. If you are making them for a gathering, I recommend making them the day of for the best results.
If you like this recipe, here’s some more Hawaiian roll inspired recipes:
What’s your take on this recipe? Got any questions? Drop a comment below! Be sure to like us on Facebook, connect with us on Instagram, and tag your @Laughingspatula creations with #laughingspatula. We can’t wait to see your photos!
Enjoy! – Kathi and Rachel
Homemade Hawaiian Rolls
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups pure pineapple juice
- 4.5 tsp active dry yeast (not Rapid Rise)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter (room temperature, plus additional 2 tbsp extra for brushing rolls)
- 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
- 5.5 cups flour
Instructions
- Heat pineapple juice in microwave safe dish until it is between 100-110 degrees fahrenheit (but not more than 110 degrees).
- In stand mixer, combine pineapple juice, sugar, and yeast. Stir to combine. Let sit for 5 minutes, or until yeast blooms and shows foam on top layer of liquid.
- Add butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt. Mix well to combine.
- Once above ingredients are fully combined, add flour in 2 cup increments and continue to mix. Once all flour has been added, dough should pull away from the bowl. If residue remains, add 1/4 cup of additional flour at a time until it is fully incorporated, and no residue remains.
- Cover bowl with dish towel, and allow dough to rise for 1 hour.
- Towards end of rise time: Grease a 9x13 inch casserole dish with nonstick spray (or butter). Set aside.
- Punch down dough, and divide into 12 large dinner rolls in 9x13 inch prepared casserole dish. Place dish towel over rolls, and allow for final 1 hour rice.
- Towards end of second rise, preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
- After final rise, bake rolls for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Brush with 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Serve and enjoy!
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