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.
I followed the recipe exactly. I think there is way too much flour because my Kitchenaid had a hard time mixing it and it actually started smoking! Ugh! The rolls were tough and dense. Total failure! I used very active starter and they did rise but in the end had to toss them. They looked beautiful but were not a good consistency.
I’m sorry you had issues! Do you normally use your Kitchen Aid to mix your dough? If you have a lower powered motor, it may cause those issues.
Mine were flat and came out of oven like hockey pucks! ugh What could i have done wrong? I beat with mixer till dough was pulling away from bowl and had a good consistency.
It most likely has to do with fermentation time. Did it over ferment or under ferment?
Do you knead on low or high? I can’t for the life of me get it to be doughy. It has the consistency of cookie dough. I used very active bubbly starter. Softened butter. I juiced my own pineapple and used that. I’ve tried this twice and can’t figure out what could be going wrong.
I knead on a lower setting. Usually 2-4. It can take up to twenty minutes for it to knead completely. It can also be dependent on what motor you have in your Kitchen Aid.
Can you use 1/2 c of almond milk instead of cow milk?
That should work just fine.
Hi, love these rolls. Can they be frozen after they are baked. If so, what is the best was.
How much of a rise for the first rise?
Until it has about doubled in size. This can take anywhere from 6-12 hours or more depending on how mature your starter is and how warm your house i.
I am currently using a starter that is fed with potato flakes and sugar and one that is fed with flour and water. Would either sourdough starter work? Or would u suggest the one that is sweeter?
I would think either would work.
Should the starter be active? Recently fed? Discard? Recipe does not specify.
Active
I tried this 2 times and followed the recipe. My starter was super active, I measured everything correctly. I thought my issue the first time was that I didn’t let it rise long enough (only 7.5 hours) so the second attempt I was a stickler with every detail. My dough came out the same both times- it looked elastic like a very thick cake batter. But no rise again this morning. What am I doing wrong? I keep it in the same warm spot in my kitchen that my starter does great in and I kneaded for 13 min. I watched the video clip of you making the dough but I couldn’t find anything that shows what the dough should look like when taking it out of the mixer and into a greased bowl but I can say that mine was definitely not able to be transferred by hand as it was very sticky. It’s more like I had to pour it into the bowl and scraped it out with a spoon. I’m not giving up in this! Any tips?
You just have to keep kneading! It will eventually become smooth and elastic but it takes forever in the Kitchenaid, way longer than even the kitchenaid site says is normal!
I have had the same problem. I even added more flour eventually thinking maybe that was the problem since I noticed that you don’t weigh your flower and you’re not spooning it into your measuring cups, so I imagine you are using more flour than your recipe actually calls for. Do you have a picture of what the dough should look like? I needed mine for 20 minutes, and it never got better than a thick batter.
I use 140 grams per cup of flour rather than the typical 120 g. I got this by weighing what my typical cup of flour would be over and over and getting the average. Hope that helps. It should definitely be more than a thick batter and turn into a soft ball.
Can I make this dough and freeze it?
Yes! https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/freezing-sourdough-bread-dough-a-complete-guide#:~:text=Flash%20freeze%20the%20balls%20of,preheat%20your%20oven%2C%20and%20bake!
My dough sat out overnight but never rose. Any suggestions?
What’s the temperature of your house like? It might be a little on the cold side for your dough to rise.
If I freeze the uncooked dough, do I need to them second rise before baking?
Yes, have them go through a second rise before baking.