Hawaiian Buns

As you know by now I enjoy baking and trying new techniques to enhance my baking skills.   I have a weakness to any yeast style bread either sweet or savoury, brioche and Viennoiserie. 

I promised one of my Facebook followers to share my recipe for Hawaiian Buns, I feel bad that it took me some time to do so.  But here is the recipe which I made several times.  The buns are amazing as sliders for a party table stuffed with your favourite filling… love the smell of pineapple and ginger.

King Hawaiian Rolls

Makes three loaves or 24-30 rolls depend on the size

Ingredients:

6-7 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

3 eggs
1 1/2 cups pineapple juice
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger or freshly ground
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 (1/4 ounce) envelopes yeast or 2 ¼ tsp. for each envelope
1/2 cup butter (one stick) melted

Directions:

Preparing the sponge which is called 10 minutes sponge – I use this method in most of my dough preparation-

Heat the pineapple in a pot, add the butter and let it melt in the pineapple juice, and then take it from heat.  Beat the eggs, add the sugar, salt, ground ginger, vanilla and then add the warm pineapple butter liquid.  At this stage the heat of the mix has to be warm enough to bloom the yeast and not hot to kill it. Add the yeast and third the amount of flour mixes and let it rise for 10-15 minutes it’s very okay to leave it more.  

After the yeast rise and bubbles add more flour.   Dough should be slightly tacky, but not wet. Knead the dough for 5 minutes until it forms a smooth ball.

Sometimes you might need to add ¼ -1/2 cup of warm water, depends on your flour, the season and the temperature.

Place dough in a greased bowl and set aside to rise until doubled in size (about 1 1/2 hours).

Punch dough down and divide it in two freezer’s bags and let it rise in the fridge slowly, for a day or two the flavour will be amazing.   This is what I usually do but, by all means, you can punch the dough to degas it knead it and let it rise again.  After the second rise grease your pans shape the dough either to loaves or into rolls cover them with plastic wrap and let them rise for the second time to double, for sliders shape them into 2.5 - 3 oz. or 4 oz.  if you are using them as buns or sandwiches.

Warm the oven and bake your rolls at 350F for 25-30 minutes till golden brown.  When you take them out brush them with melted butter and serve, or let them cool and prepare them as sliders.

Note: letting the rolls rise for the second time until doubled in size is the secret to light and airy rolls, making sure they've risen enough....this is an exercise in patience

Hot and Melting Hawaiian Ham & Swiss Cheese Sliders

Ingredients

12 Kings Hawaiian Rolls

12 slices Swiss cheese
12-16oz thin sliced ham
½ cup butter melted
1 tsp. ground mustard
1 tsp. poppy seeds (optional)
2 tsp. onion flakes (or 1 tsp. onion powder)
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

1. Slice all of the rolls in half and place the bottom halves in a 9x13 baking dish.

2. Place ham and cheese on the bottom of the sliced rolls. Cover with the top half of roll.
3. Mix together the remaining five ingredients in a small bowl and spoon over the tops of the sandwiches.
4. Let sit overnight or a couple of hours.
5. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 for 15 minutes or until warmed through and the cheese is gooey and melting.    Serve warm and enjoy.