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.
After reading others comments I just wanted to say to trust the process! My dough was incredibly sticky coming out of the bowl too, but I let it ferment overnight and put it in the fridge the next morning before I went to work. When I went to work with it, most of the stickiness was gone and the rolls were very easy to shape. I put them in my oven with the light on to do the second rise and they turned out perfectly!
Dough was way too sticky to even knead. What a waste of ingredients and time.
Sounds like something went wrong! I’m sorry you didn’t have very good luck with the recipe.
I just made these Hawaiian rolls for the first time and I’m a bit confused! I followed the directions and my rolls didn’t turn out fluffy. They taste great, but are very gummy inside. Any suggestions to what I can do better next time?
Sometimes gummy dough after baking can be from a dough that didn’t rise enough either due to fermentation time or the starter not being super active when you go to use it!
Same problem here! My starter was perfectly ready. I let the dough rise for 8 hours and it was most definitely doubled in size. Let the balls rest for 2 hours until doubled in size as well. However, still came out a little heavier and gummy inside. Super bummed. Not at all like the sweet Hawaiian rolls I was expecting.
I made these today and everything was perfect except the bottoms were pretty burnt on a few of the rolls! So bad that I threw them to our chickens lol
But if I would have cooked them any less, the insides wouldn’t have been done. I used glass dishes to bake them in, could that be why? I also made a double batch because I made them for an Easter lunch. The ones that didn’t get burnt were absolutely delicious and everyone complimented me on them!
Just want to know where I could have went wrong for next time I bake 🙂
That could be why. It might be better in a stainless steel or aluminum pan.
Do you think I could reduce the sugar or eliminate? I think the pineapple juice would still make it sweet.
Yes, you should be able to.
What is the dough consistency supposed to be like. I have put 5 cups of flour and it is sticky and wet. Is it supposed to be smooth and silky like other bread dough…
with all the sugar and pineapple juice and milk, I’m not sure I’ll get that consistency… the recipe doesn’t really specify what it will be like… should the bowl be clean when when kneading is done? Mine is still sticking to the bowl…
This is a wetter dough, but it should still be workable.
I wanted to come back and let you know that even though I had no idea what to expect with this dough, I rolled them out into 16 rolls..(I should have made 18-20, some were large.)
I didn’t get as much in my second rise so I was afraid they would turn out terribly-but they puffed up beautifully in the oven and was a HUGE hit on Easter. I will make these again.
For those of you who have such sticky dough, don’t throw it away!! add more flour. I added almost a cup and it was still very sticky, but at least I could work with it better.
I absolutely love these and as a new baker they are so easy. Now for the other part. Since starting to make these I have had to go dairy free. So I subbed the milk for cashew milk and the butter for avocado oil but now it’s coming out like a cake. Has anyone had success making these dairy free?
I came to the comments to see if anyone had recommendations also! I hope someone replies – I’m wanting to make these but was wondering how to do so without the dairy.
With vegan baking substituting dairy milk is best done with soy milk (the fat content & protein are most similar to dairy milk) & then for the butter I have had the best luck with refined coconut oil. I think it has to do with how the consistency & melting point are pretty similar. With this recipe I’m sure you could use unrefined coconut oil to add to the warm tropical flavor 🙂
We live these rolls! If I want to make them without the pineapple juice, would you sub the cop of juice for a cup more of milk or would you do water?
You could replace it with milk!
I have a question concerning the time between feeding my starter and prepping the dough. There is a span of 8 hours between these 2 things. My SD will double in size within 3-4 hours, shouldn’t we prepare the dough once is doubled and BEFORE the starter actually collapses . Mine will definitely drop by 8 hours and need to be fed again.
Please clarify, because I will need to adjust the timeline. I even feel like the 12 hour rise time to be extensive- and worry that the dough actually deflate before I get up to shape them.
Always take those times with a grain of salt because your environment can be different than mine and others. If you know your starter and temperature of your environment, work with that!
Thank you. I have replied twice and it keeps disappearing while I’m typing, before I can submit. Sorry if this is a duplicate. 2 questions: what is the dough consistency once it’s been kneading for 15 mins? Mine was sticky gooey. I ended up adding almost another cup of flour by the time I was able to somewhat handle it. Is it supposed to pull off the sides of the bowl so the mixing bowl is almost clean? Is it supposed to be smooth and silky, sticky, elastic-ish? I was unsure and the video didn’t show what it looked like before the rise, only after. So I added enough flour to be able to somewhat shape it and move it to a bowl to rise.
2) does this make 15 or 18? The video shows 15 in the dish, recipe says 18-just wanting to make sure.
I’ve made this recipe a few times now and every time after the initial 8-10hr (sometimes more) rise my dough is SO sticky. Help, what am I doing wrong? My dough rises but the consistency is still so sticky. Should I add more flour to the recipe?
It may be over fermenting! 8-10 hours may be too long in your environment.
We must be doing the same thing. Bummer!! Mine were so sticky that I had to throw out the dough.
Mine were also SUPER sticky. I could not even form the 18 rolls without it sticking to my hand. I floured my hands to help the process. Mine unfortunately didn’t turn out as pretty as the picture 😩
My dough was very sticky so I added a little more flour in order to handle and shape them.