When I came across a King Arthur Flour recipe for Hawaiian Buns, I added it to my to-bake list right away. King's Hawaiian sweet dinner rolls are my favorite store-bought dinner roll, hands down, and King Arthur promised that these homemade Hawaiian sweet rolls were even better.
Because sweet dough takes a long time to rise, these rolls require a significant investment of time. They also require a couple of ingredients that required a special trip to the store -- pineapple juice and instant potato flakes (the latter was a suggested 2:1 by volume substitution for the potato flour specified in the recipe; potato flakes are cheap and much easier to find than potato flour, which I have to order online).
To make the dough, you create a sponge by combining flour, instant yeast, and water; add in the liquid ingredients (pineapple juice, softened butter, brown sugar, eggs, an egg yolk, and vanilla); and then incorporate the dry ingredients (flour, the potato flakes, and salt). I had to add an extra six tablespoons of flour to get the dough to come together, and I put it in a greased bowl to rise.
After the dough had doubled in size, I deflated it, divided it into sixteen buns, placed the buns in a parchment-lined pan, and let the dough rise again. Then I brushed the rolls with thinned egg white and baked them until golden and their internal temperature reached 190 degrees.
These rolls were absolutely gorgeous. They were beautifully golden brown with a shiny crust, uniformly sized, and perfectly shaped. And they were delicious! The rolls lightly sweet, soft and fluffy, and had a very tender crumb. I could just detect a trace of the pineapple flavor. But here's the thing -- the rolls looked and tasted fantastic, but they didn't taste like a King's Hawaiian; the flavor was not quite the same. These are probably the best dinner rolls I've ever made, but I can't say that they're better than the grocery store version. That said, I would happy make these again and again. The rolls are quite large, so they would also be perfect buns for small cocktail-sized sandwiches.
Recipe: "Hawaiian Buns" from King Arthur Flour.
Because sweet dough takes a long time to rise, these rolls require a significant investment of time. They also require a couple of ingredients that required a special trip to the store -- pineapple juice and instant potato flakes (the latter was a suggested 2:1 by volume substitution for the potato flour specified in the recipe; potato flakes are cheap and much easier to find than potato flour, which I have to order online).
To make the dough, you create a sponge by combining flour, instant yeast, and water; add in the liquid ingredients (pineapple juice, softened butter, brown sugar, eggs, an egg yolk, and vanilla); and then incorporate the dry ingredients (flour, the potato flakes, and salt). I had to add an extra six tablespoons of flour to get the dough to come together, and I put it in a greased bowl to rise.
After the dough had doubled in size, I deflated it, divided it into sixteen buns, placed the buns in a parchment-lined pan, and let the dough rise again. Then I brushed the rolls with thinned egg white and baked them until golden and their internal temperature reached 190 degrees.
Recipe: "Hawaiian Buns" from King Arthur Flour.
Comments
Have you tried Hawaiian Portugese-Style Sweet Bread? I think the people who founded King's Bakery were Japanese. They used to bake right here in Honolulu before moving to the mainland. In fact, their coffee shop/restaurant was located on King Street in Honolulu. The King's Sweetbread is based on Portugese-style bread . . . maybe this link will bring you closer to your goal? http://www.konahistorical.org/index.php/tours/portuguese-stone-oven-baking/
Happy Baking!!! Raylene