Hawaiian Dinner Rolls

Chewy, light, and thick Hawaiian dinner rolls made from scratch with signature subtle pineapple flavor and fluffy texture. Perfect roll to pair with a comforting meal.

Classic dinner rolls are a type of recipe I think we all should have bookmarked somewhere. Savory, lightly sweet, salty, and perfectly squishy.

For lighter, smaller sweet rolls, I have another recipe with slightly different ingredients. This recipe makes much thicker and larger dinner rolls that are closer to King’s Hawaiian dinner rolls you’d buy at a grocery store.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Homemade Hawaiian rolls are much better than any store-bought rolls – they are absolutely delicious and so buttery!
• Pillowy soft texture without much kneading, using a starter, or bread maker. Double rising never fails in my roll recipes.
• Traditional egg wash is replaced with flavorful honey butter wash which not only gives every soft roll a golden brown color but also a nice subtle taste.
• Making them is always a little win for every cook. Once you pull them out of the oven, puffed up, crowded, golden brown – you feel so much satisfaction like Oh, I made this! It is a confidence boost, for sure.

Ingredients Notes

• All-purpose flour + more flour for dusting. Make sure to measure using the scoop and level method. The all-purpose flour rolls can take longer to rise.
• Instant yeast. This is a classic homemade recipe where the dough has to rise, twice. So we can’t skip the yeast. Please, make sure it is fresh and not expired.
• Table salt. You can also have some coarse sea salt to sprinkle on top of the freshly baked rolls.
• Fresh pineapple juice is a must for Hawaiian dinner rolls. They won’t be overly sweet or fruity. It should be 100% pineapple juice.
• Buttermilk – the base for soft and fluffy, rich dough, alongside eggs. We need fatty dairy, low-fat milk won’t produce the same results. It is also a must to activate the yeast.
• Unsalted butter or salted butter without added salt.
• Honey doesn’t just add a bit of sweetness but it also keeps the soft roll texture.
• Egg
• Vanilla extract
• Honey butter – we will use it for the wash.

Kitchen Equipment

• Stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. You can, of course, knead by hand.
• Large mixing bowl (heat-safe)
• 9×13 baking dish greased with cooking spray. Metal or ceramic dishes are best.
• Thermometer
• Clean towel
• Pastry brush
• Optional, small milk frother

How To Make Hawaiian Dinner Rolls

1: Mix Dry Ingredients

1. Mix the flour, yeast, and salt using the dough hook in the bowl of a stand mixer for about 1 minute.
2. How to tell if it is just enough flour? If the dough is still a bit sticky to the sides of the mixing bowl, you used enough flour. If the dough is not tacky at all, there is too much flour. If the dough is too tacky, there is not enough flour and it won’t rise properly.

2: Mix Wet Ingredients With Pineapple Juice

Combine the pineapple juice, buttermilk, melted butter, and honey in a large, microwave-safe bowl or measuring up. Blend or whisk to combine. (I like to use a small frother for this step)

3: Proof The Yeast

1. Microwave the juice mixture in 30-second increments until it reaches 95-105 degrees F. You can go up to 110 degrees, but anything above that will kill the yeast. I have found that 95-105 F is the sweet spot for yeast.
2. Once the juice mixture is hot, turn the mixer on again and slowly add it to the flour mixture. 
3. Next, add the egg and vanilla and continue mixing on low until the dough comes together. Increase the speed and mix until the dough no longer sticks to the side of the bowl. It may still stick to the very bottom of the bowl.

4: Form The Dough & Let The Dough Rise

1. Working on a smooth, flat, lightly floured surface, turn the dough out and shape it into a smooth ball. You can also form the dough ball in the stand mixer, using the same dough attachment and medium speed.
2. Transfer the dough ball to a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a dish towel, and let it rise in a warm space for 60-90 minutes. It should double in size.
3. Optimal warmth for quick rising is around 80°F – 90°F.

5: Divide Dough & Let It Rise

When the dough is ready, punch it down and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide it into 15 equal-sized portions. Roll them into balls and place them in a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish.

Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm space for about an hour. They should double in size.

6: Bake Hawaiian Rolls

1. After the second rise, adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place rolls in the baking dish, make sure the tops are smooth.
2. Melt half of the honey butter and lightly brush it over the rolls.
3. Bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the baking dish and bake for another 10 minutes.
4. If you want the tops browner, you can broil until the rolls reach your desired color. Keep a close eye on them while broiling as burning can happen quickly.
5. Remove and immediately brush the tops of the rolls with more honey butter before serving.

Serving Suggestions

Dinner rolls make the softest sliders. You can use any leftover meat and veggies like roasted chicken or turkey, sausage, pulled pork, brisket, or simply eggs and bacon. These rolls go well with BBQ too.

Despite the fact that these are dinner rolls, you can easily snack on them at any time of the day and even just with some butter or jam.

Storage

Store leftovers in an airtight container or zip-lock bag at room temperature for 3-4 days or for 5-6 days in the fridge. Reheat in the oven until warm all the way through for about 10 minutes.

The finished rolls can also be frozen for 2-3 months. I like to wrap each one individually in plastic wrap and then combine them all in several zip-top freezer bags before freezing. Thaw at room temperature overnight.

For best results, you can reheat in the oven at 300 degrees F for 10 minutes in the preheated oven.

Make Ahead

To make these Hawaiian bread rolls, follow the recipe through step 5. When you cover the rolls for the second rise, place them in the fridge instead of in a warm area. Without freezing, you can prepare the dough around 12-16 hours ahead of time.

When ready to bake – set them out at room temperature for 1-2 hours to go through the second rise step. Then bake the rolls according to the remainder of the recipe.

This dough can be frozen for up to 2 months. To do so – work the recipe through the shaping process. Let the dough balls sit for 10 minutes. Then place them in a single layer in the freezer. When ready to use – thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Then set them out at room temp for 1-2 hours for the second rise and continue with the remainder of the recipe.

Substitutions & Variations

• This recipe works with instant yeast or rapid-rise yeast. Active dry yeast will not work for this recipe. 
• You can substitute buttermilk with whole milk or heavy cream, or make homemade buttermilk. Plant-based milk is ok to use too.
• For dense dough texture, you can use bread flour or potato flour.
• Make more savory dinner rolls. Add herbs, minced garlic, Swiss cheese, or crispy bacon bits.
• Make Hawaiian sweet rolls that you can also use for dinner or to make French toast. For sweet rolls, you can use dark brown sugar (it makes chewy rolls) and also add shredded coconut for extra tropical flavor.
• If you want to use classic egg wash, separate the egg white and dilute this reserved egg white with water.

Expert Tips To Make Hawaiian Dinner Rolls

• I find that the easiest way to get 15 rolls is to first divide the dough in half and then continue cutting each of those portions into halves. You end up with 16 – but inevitably you get at least a few that end up smaller than the others. So I take that one extra roll, divide it up, and add it to the smaller rolls to get 15 evenly sized rolls. You can also just make 16 rolls instead of 15 if you prefer.
• You can also use a kitchen scale to divide the dough by weight.
• To tell if the dough is done rising and ready, stick your finger in it. If the “hole” remains on the surface, the dough is ready. If not, let it rise some more.

Popular Questions

What Is The Difference Between Hawaiian Rolls And Dinner Rolls?

Sweet Hawaiian rolls can be lighter, smaller, and sweeter than dinner rolls, while traditionally dinner rolls aka yeast rolls are fluffy, thick, squishy, and bigger.

Why Are My Rolls Dense?

If you don’t knead the dough long enough or use bread flour instead of the all-purpose flour, the rolls can be dense.

Why Are My Dinner Rolls Not Fluffy?

Using too much flour, especially bread flour will make smaller, deflated dinner rolls that will have a very dense texture inside, without the big air bubbles and signature fluffiness.

If you love this dinner roll recipe, you’re going to love these other side dishes too. Please click each link below to find the easy, printable recipe!

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