Sourdough Hawaiian rolls are a soft, fluffy, sweet roll with a delicious pineapple flavor and classic sourdough tang. These make the best dinner rolls, or you can use them to make mini sandwiches.
Probably one of the easiest bread recipes ever and also one of the tastiest. You simply dump all the ingredients into a stand mixer, allow the mixer to knead, let the dough rise, shape, rise again and bake.
No folding and stretching. Just mix until stretchy right in the stand mixer.
Hawaiian rolls are one of our family’s favorite sweet sourdough rolls (it’s a tie between these and sourdough brioche, which is quite similar).
If we are out of town or traveling and we need to stop by the grocery store to get some bread, we will grab Hawaiian rolls rather than white bread. It is just so much more delicious.
Hawaiian rolls are a great way to feed a crowd. For an easy dinner, I love having this sourdough Hawaiian bread on hand to make ham and Swiss rolls. Slice the rolls in half, add your ham and cheese, top with the other half, then bake until gooey.
The perfect combination of sweet and savory.
Tips:
- Make sourdough Hawaiian bread – Usually, we make these into rolls, but you can also make this recipe into a loaf. Just make 6 larger dough balls and bake in a bread pan, rather than in a 9×13. Bake for about 25 minutes.
- Make sure your sourdough starter is super active and bubbly for best results.
- If you find yourself with risen dough, but don’t have time to shape and rise again before baking, you can stick it in the fridge until you have time. This slows down the fermentation process, allowing you a little extra time.
- New to sourdough? Check out how to make a sourdough starter here, and see the list of terms you may need to know.
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Why you will love this recipe:
Simple: This recipe couldn’t be easier. Add all the ingredients straight to the stand mixer and let it do all the work. Allow it to rise, then shape the dough, rise again and bake.
Super delicious: Is there anything better than super soft, fluffy, buttery sweet rolls?
Perfect for mini sandwiches or appetizers: These rolls make the best vessel for ham and Swiss sandwiches or sliders. Yum!
FAQ:
Are Hawaiian rolls the same as brioche?
They are similar since Hawaiian rolls and brioche are both enriched doughs, meaning they include eggs and/or butter. The main difference is that Hawaiian rolls are sweeter and include pineapple juice to give them a super yummy flavor.
How is Hawaiian bread different from regular bread?
It includes pineapple juice and more sugar compared to regular bread.
What is special about Hawaiian bread?
It is sweet and fluffy with a slight pineapple flavor.
What’s the difference between Hawaiian rolls and regular rolls?
They are an enriched roll, meaning that they include butter and eggs. Regular rolls usually do not. Hawaiian rolls also include pineapple juice to give them that tasty, sweet, pineapple flavor.
Why is it called a Hawaiian roll?
Because they originated in Hawaii in the 1950’s. It is actually a twist on the Portuguese sweet bread, which also has a slight pineapple flavor even though pineapple isn’t listed on the ingredient list.
Ingredients
- Pineapple Juice – Canned or bottled will work the best.
- Milk
- Sugar
- Sourdough starter – Make sure it is nice and bubbly. Discard or immature starter will not work for this recipe.
- Butter – This needs to be softened so it can easily be incorporated. Butter that is too hard will just leave you with chunks.
- Vanilla extract – Store-bought or homemade.
- Egg
- Salt
- All-purpose flour – Nothing fancy here. Plain ol’ all-purpose flour will work. Fresh milled or store bought.
Egg wash
- Egg yolk
- Water
Tools you may need:
Measuring cups and spoons
9×13 baking dish
Bench scraper (optional but useful)
How To Make Sourdough Hawaiian Rolls
Add all of the ingredients (except the egg wash) to the stand mixer with a dough hook.
Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10-15 minutes.
Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a tight lid.
Allow to rise overnight. About 8-12 hours.
Divide dough into 18 even rolls and place in a greased 9×13 baking dish.
Cover with a towel and allow to rise until doubled. This rise will take about 1-3 hours depending on the temperature of your home.
Once the dough has doubled, create the egg wash and brush over the dough.
Bake for 20-25 minutes at 375 until the rolls are golden in color.
Cool.
Storage:
Store in an air-tight container. Use within 3-4 days for best results. Or freeze for up to 6 months.
Baker’s Schedule:
12 PM: Feed sourdough starter.
8 PM: Create dough and allow it to ferment overnight, covered.
8 AM the next day: Take dough and roll into 16 rolls. Place in a baking dish covered and allow to double in size.
10 AM: Bake and allow to cool before serving.
How To Use Sourdough Hawaiian Rolls:
- Ham and Swiss
- Pulled pork
- Mini hamburgers. Growing up my aunt made the best sliders with these rolls. She would brown ground beef with seasonings and onions. Slicing the rolls in half, she would add ground beef, top with pickles, and then replace the other half of the rolls and bake.
- Chicken parmesan sliders: Add cooked chicken and a little tomato sauce, top with parmesan and mozzarella cheese, then bake until gooey.
- Fried chicken sliders: Use my sourdough fried chicken recipe and create mini sandwiches.
- BLT
Find More Sourdough Roll Recipes:
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you gave it 5 stars! Thank you! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
Sourdough Hawaiian Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup starter
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 5 cups all Purpose Flour
Egg wash
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients (except the egg wash) to the stand mixer with a dough hook.
- Knead until smooth and elastic. About 10-15 minutes.
- Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a tight lid.
- Allow to rise overnight. About 8-12 hours.
- Divide dough into 18 even rolls and place in a greased 9×13 baking dish.
- Cover with a towel and allow to rise until doubled. About 1-3 hours depending on the temperature of your home.
- Once the dough has doubled, create the egg wash and brush over the dough.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes at 375 until the rolls are golden in color.
- Cool.
Notes
- Make sourdough Hawaiian bread: Usually, we make these into rolls, but you can also make this recipe into bread. Just make 6 larger dough balls and bake in a bread pan rather than in a 9×13. Bake for about 25 minutes.
- Make sure your sourdough starter is super active and bubbly for best results.
- If you find yourself with risen dough, but don’t have time to shape and rise again before baking you can stick it in the fridge until you have time. This slows down the fermentation process allowing you a little extra time before needing to make.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Had amazing success 2 out of 3 times I made these! Sloppy dough turned dense rolls this last time Any chance this recipe can be written in grams?
We are working to get everything converted to grams. Here’s a conversion chart to help!
I’m new to sourdough baking and made these. They are amazing!! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
Could I use this same recipe to make it into a loaf? I would love to be able to make Hawaiian sandwich bread which is my daughters favorite!
Yes, that should work!
I am not sure what happened. Starter was active, plenty of time to rise covered, in the oven with the oven light on. The dough was even lightly bubbly but didn’t rise very muchq This was a huge sloppy mess. I added extra flour but it seemed to just absorb it. The dough was like a paste. I was so excited to make these at home. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
This is our new favorite recipe!! The Hawaiian rolls smelled wonderful. This is my 5th time making this recipe and it has always turned out perfectly soft and delicious. I did NOT place it in the fridge overnight. Simply set it on our kitchen counter overnight with temperature at 67-68 degrees. Shaped and placed into pans in the morning. Into the oven, with oven lights on, and I added a cup of boiled water in a separate small bowl to help it rise a little faster. Once it rised I removed the bowl with water, egg wash, and baked it! Such an easy recipe and even better knowing that wholesome ingredients are used! No extra preservatives or other mystery scientific ingredients.
-Mellanie, TX
I followed this with the only exception being i put the dough in the fridge overnight…. They did not get golden and were so dense very much not a roll. Help?
They need countertop time for them to rise! The cold will continue to ferment, but it will not rise as much.
It’s been 3 hours and the dough isn’t rising a second time. What should I do differently? The home is colder (70-72 degrees). Started was active when used.
It may already be at its maximum rise! I would try baking it.
I’ve made numerous things with my starter.. they’ve turned out great. But this did not. My dough was sticky and gloopy so I added extra flour like other reviewers said.. the dough seemed fine after that. I left it for 3 hours for my second rise… they didn’t rise at all.the rolls ended up hard on the outside and undone on the inside.. I had such high hopes!