An irresistible homemade Hawaiian Roll Bread Recipe with pineapple juice and honey for that perfect sweet, fluffy texture. This will become your new favorite loaf of yeast bread with a Hawaiian twist!
WANT TO SAVE THIS RECIPE?
Enter your email below and we’ll send it straight to your inbox. Plus you’ll get great new recipes from us every week!
🍞 While delicious on its own with a pat of butter, this Hawaiian bread makes the perfect base for paninis, grilled ham & cheese sandwiches, or toasted with a savory topping!
My 2 Best Tips For Making This Hawaiian Roll Bread Recipe
#1 – Pineapple Juice Is Mandatory: Pineapple juice isn’t just for flavor—it’s essential to achieving that signature Hawaiian sweet bread taste and texture. The natural enzymes in pineapple juice help tenderize the dough, while its acidity activates the yeast and contributes to the bread’s characteristic golden color and tropical yumminess!
#2 – Achieve the Perfect Shine: For that bakery-quality glossy finish, apply the egg wash generously just before baking. For an extra touch of sweetness and shine, brush warm bread with melted butter mixed with a tablespoon of honey immediately after baking.
Many of you are probably familiar with the round King’s Hawaiian Sweet Bread you can buy in grocery stores, but did you know it’s easy to make at home?
Just make the dough, let it rest 15 minutes, shape it in to a round loaf, and put it in a pie plate. After another 15 minutes resting time, you pop it in the oven until it’s golden brown and ready to eat.
Note that I tested this recipe with a couple different yeasts and chose Red Star Platinum Yeast for this final run-through of the recipe. You can use any dry instant yeast with great results, though it may take a bit longer to rise.
🩷 Melissa
WANT TO SAVE THIS RECIPE?
Enter your email below and we will send it straight to your inbox. Plus you will get great new recipes from us every week!
Hawaiian Roll Bread Recipe (Hawaiian Sweet Bread)
Ingredients
Dough
- 4 ¼ cups bread flour
- 4 ½ teaspoons 2 packages Red Star Platinum Yeast or another dry instant yeast
- ⅓ cup nonfat dry milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup pineapple juice
- ½ cup water
- 5 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 eggs
Egg Wash
- 1 egg slightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, combine 2 ¼ cups flour, yeast, dry milk and salt; mix well.
- In saucepan or microwave safe dish, heat pineapple juice, ½ cup water, butter, and honey until warm (120° – 130°F; butter does not have to melt).
- Add liquids to flour mixture. Add 2 eggs. Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 3 minutes at medium speed.
- Switch to the dough hook and mix in the remaining flour a little at a time, to make a soft dough, adding more or less flour as needed. Knead the dough for 5 minutes.
- Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm place about 15 minutes.
- Punch down dough. On lightly floured surface, shape into a round loaf. Place in greased 9 or 10-inch round pie pan. Cover; let rise in warm place about 15 minutes.
- Combine egg and 1 tablespoon water; brush loaf. Bake at 375º for 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove from oven and brush with butter, if desired. Remove from pan; cool.
Notes
- These homemade Hawaiian rolls don’t contain preservatives, so proper storage is key. Once completely cooled, store in an airtight container or plastic bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- To refresh rolls that are a day old, sprinkle with a few drops of water and warm in a 300°F oven for 5 minutes.
- This bread makes great French toast. I turned my loaf in to deep fried Hawaiian Sweetbread French Toast Sticks!
Nutrition
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can refrigerate the dough after the first rise for up to 24 hours. Punch down the dough, place it in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate. When ready to bake, let the dough come to room temperature for about 30 minutes before shaping into a loaf or individual rolls.
These rolls freeze beautifully for up to 3 months. Allow freshly baked rolls to cool completely, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil or place in freezer bags. Thaw at room temperature and reheat in a 300°F oven for 5-10 minutes to restore that fresh-baked texture.
Yes, you can make Hawaiian rolls without a stand mixer. Combine the ingredients in a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until incorporated. Then knead by hand on a floured surface for 8-10 minutes until smooth and elastic. The process requires more physical effort, but the results will be just as delicious!
More Yeast Bread Recipes to Consider
Did you try this recipe? Leave a ⭐️ rating below and share it on Instagram.
Bettye Little
Easy, beautiful loaf–no taste. Will not make again.
Elisa
I’ve “tried” to make this bread twice, with mixed results. The first time the bread came out beautifully, and huge!
I loved it but my husband (who is a huge fan of King’s Hawaiian Sweet Bread) said that it just wasn’t sweet enough. I did some research on some other recipes and decided to change all the liquid to pineapple juice (from half water/half juice) and add some sugar. I have no idea if this affected the science of the bread or if i just failed elsewhere but it failed completely! The dough looked and felt great but never really rose and, while I should have known better, I still tried to bake it but it didn’t rise and was therefore raw in the middle. I threw it out and while I’m not ready to give up, I’m not sure exactly where I went wrong.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated…thanks!
Barbara Schieving
Hi Elisa – thanks for the question. I did some research and here’s what I found:
Excess sugar inhibits gluten development; very sweet yeast dough rises slowly. While sugar and other sweeteners provide “food” for yeast, too much sugar can damage yeast, drawing liquid from the yeast and hampering its growth. Too much sugar also slows down gluten development. Add extra yeast to the recipe or find a similar recipe with less sugar. Sweet yeast doughs will take longer to rise.
How about if you’re making a sweet bread, one that requires sugar for flavoring? As a general rule, we’ve found that any more than 2 tablespoons of sugar per cup of flour will slow yeast down to the point where you can’t make a nicely risen loaf, without making some other adjustments, such as increasing the amount of yeast, increasing the acidity of the environment, etc.
So I think if you want it sweeter I would try it with all pineapple juice, no extra sugar and a longer rise. If that’s still not sweet enough, you could try adding some sugar and increasing your yeast and rise times.
Please let me know how it goes. Good luck!
Elisa
Thank you so much for the reply. I understand some of the science of bread making but, having read recipes with sugar, I hadn’t anticipated these problems, and with company coming too! Next time I’ll try just a little sugar, with all juice, and a little extra yeast, with more time to rise. I’m desperate to get closer to King’s breads and while your original recipe was great, I didn’t feel it was close enough for us. I will definitely let you know…thank you again!
Elisa
So here’s my update…I tried one more time, I used a cup of pineapple juice (no water) added 2/3 cup sugar and a bit more yeast. The dough was very sticky and I was worried about it rising. I think it took almost 3 hours for the first rise and then I made small buns that I put together in a greased pan (about 20, I think) and let them rise about an hour. I baked them at 350 for about 22 minutes and they were great!! Very sweet and very very close to King’s. thanks again for the recipe and the tips!
Barbara Schieving
Thanks for the update! I love that they turned out perfectly. About how much more yeast do you think you used? 3 hours is a long time to wait for that first rise. Good thing your patience was rewarded.
Adele
I just found your blog and I loved it !! I have a question for you: may I use Fleischmann’s Active Dry Yeast instead of RED STAR PLATINUM YEAST??? please, let me know. and I will be very thankful
Adele
Barbara Schieving
Thanks Adele! Yes, you can use active dry yeast instead of instant yeast. Typically when you use regular yeast, you dissolve the yeast in warm water instead of adding it to the flour, and instead of a 15 minute rest period, you would probably want to let it rise until double, punch it down and then shape the loaf and continue as directed. Please stop back by and let me know how you like it.
Elizabeth H
Was so excited to find this recipe! Love it! I have now made it about 6 times and have tried the large loaf, small loafs and dinner rolls. I added a little potato flour to keep the bread softer, as it dries out really quickly.
Barbara Schieving
Hi Elizabeth! Thanks so much for letting me know how much you love the bread. I’ll have to try a little potato flour next time I make the bread. Where do you buy yours?
angela@spinachtiger
Oh I love the french toast made with this bread.
Betty
I love Hawaiian bread- so yummy! The french toast sounds amazing too. 🙂
My Inner Chick
If bread could win a beauty contest, THIS would be the WINNER! Oh, MY! Xx
Lori @ A Bright and Beautiful Life
Cool. I’ve never thought of making Hawaiian Sweet Bread but I love it and I love bread and making it so now I’m going to give this a try. Your photos are beautiful.
Jen
This bread looks fab and love the idea of making french toast with it 🙂
Donna
How do you NOT weigh 300 pounds>??? So gorgeous!
Barbara Schieving
Thanks! It helps to have lots of people at my house who love sweets as much as I do.
vanillasugarblog
oh Barbara I’ve never thought to make my own Hawaiian bread!
And it’s easy too!
Wonderful!
Rachael {Simply Fresh Cooking}
That IS super easy! I think I know what to bring for Easter!!! 🙂
Carol
Wow does that look WONDERFUL! I love making bread and I know I’m going to love making this one.
Thank you Barbara,
Carol
Christina @ Sweet Pea's Kitchen
I love, love, love Hawaiian bread! I can’t wait to give this recipe a try! 🙂
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef
I was trying to describe this bread to someone here in Australia and I said, “I’ll have to find a recipe and make it for you.” And here you are!
Aussies don’t like sweet breads for the most part but they’ll love this. I’ll make some homemade butter and then honeybutter.. let’s go whole hog.
Barbara Schieving
I like the way you think! Homemade butter and then honey butter – I’m impressed.
Blond Duck
This would be so good with apple butter.
Mary @ Fit and Fed
I read up to see what makes it Hawaiian bread and Wikipedia says it’s actually Portuguese sweet bread brought to Hawaii by Portuguese immigrants. I love your addition of pineapple juice to the bread and the way you styled your photo with the beautiful magenta phalaenopsis!
Barbara Schieving
Thanks Mary! I didn’t know the background.
Becky
When I think of Hawaiian bread I always think of rolls but this bread looks just perfect. And the French Toast looks just amazing as well. I’m sure everyone in your house is happy 🙂 Hope all is well for you.
Angie@Angie's Recipes
What a great looking bread! These French bread sticks are amazing!
teresa
i don’t think i’ve ever tried hawaiin sweet bread, which is a shame because this looks awesome!