Fluffy Sourdough Hawaiian Rolls 

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These fluffy sourdough Hawaiian rolls are soft and sweet with a delicious sourdough tang that adds depth to the classic tropical flavor. These make the perfect appetizers, or are just yummy for breakfast or a quick snack.  Traditional dinner rolls are delicious, but they aren’t nearly as good as these hawaiian rolls that have just the right amount of sweetness from the pineapple juice and brown sugar.  They are the perfect side dish for any holiday meal.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

•  Taste and Texture  – soft and buttery with a signature sourdough tang we all love, which pairs perfectly with the hawaiian flavor from the pineapple juice.  If you want less tang, you can just add more sweetener, but I like the slight hint of sourdough flavor.  These rolls remind me of King’s hawaiian rolls.
• Freshness – these rolls will stay fresh longer on your counter without molding because they’re already inoculated with beneficial bacteria from the sourdough, making it harder for mold to grow.  Although these pull-apart sourdough dinner rolls never last very long at our house, they get eaten so fast!
• Healthy – because these rolls are made with active sourdough starter, and allowed to long ferment over several hours, they will be much easier for your body to digest.  Recipes made with sourdough have a lower glycemic index than other breads, making them a better choice for diabetics than yeast breads.
• Simple – there’s more than 35 ingredients in store bought dinner rolls, including many preservatives and dough conditioners.  These soft sourdough rolls are made with 6 simple and easy to pronounce ingredients that can be sourced organically and economically.
• Less Expensive  – it is less expensive to make your own rolls than purchase them at the grocery store, depending on where you source your ingredients of course.  Bread products can usually be made with high-quality ingredients for much less money, and with a much higher quality and freshness.

Ingredients

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Tools

Favorite Sourdough Recipes:

How to Make Soft Sourdough Hawaiian Rolls

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, or in a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients.  Add additional flour if needed until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.

Knead in the stand mixer bowl on medium speed for at least 5 minutes, or knead by hand for at least 10 minutes.  You want to make sure the gluten in the dough is properly developed.  This is why I like to make these rolls in a mixer, because I can start it mixing and work on the dishes or cleaning up the kitchen while the mixer does the work for me.

First Rise

Place the lid on the mixer bowl, or cover with a tea towel and allow it to do its bulk fermentation, or first rise at room temperature for 8-10 hours or overnight, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.

The next day, divide the dough ball into 15 equal pieces and shape them by rolling them around on the countertop to create tension on the dough, or shape by putting your thumb in the center of the roll and pinching the sides together.  (See video below).

Place it in a greased 9” x 13” baking dish.

Second Rise

Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours or until doubled.  If you’re going to be out of the house, you can always raise these rolls in the refrigerator for several hours as well.

Bake The Rolls

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a deep golden brown.

Brush the tops of the rolls with butter and allow to cool a bit before serving. These rolls pair well with sweet or savory. Enjoy them plain with butter, as mini burgers, or cube them for a delicious French toast bake or Hawaiian bread pudding.

Store leftovers in a ziplock bag or other airtight container for 3-4 days on the countertop or a week in the refrigerator.  These rolls can also be frozen for up to six weeks.

Sourdough Sliders

To make these sourdough hawaiian rolls into sliders, gently remove them from the pan.

Cut the rolls in half, leaving the tops and bottoms of the rolls connected (see video).

Place the bottoms of the rolls back in the pan.

Layer meat and cheese slices on top of the buns in the pan. Our favorites are smoked turkey and swiss cheese.

Place the tops of the buns over the meat and cheese layer.

Mix up 1/2 cup melted butter, 1 Tbl. garlic powder, 1 Tbl. onion powder, 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper and drizzle over the pan of rolls.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Other slider ideas:

Pizza sauce, sausage & mozzarella

Ground beef, cheese, and pickles

Chicken with alfredo sauce

What Are The Health Benefits Of Sourdough?

Anytime you add a fermented element like sourdough to a recipe, it becomes more nutritious because it contains live probiotics and good bacteria that help with gut health and digestion.  Gluten and phytic acid are naturally present in wheat, and are usually what is to blame for people not being able to digest gluten well.  When the grain is fermented through the sourdough process, the gluten and phytic acid are broken down, making it easier to digest.  A lot of people that struggle with gluten intolerance (not people with celiac), can digest food made with sourdough without any issue, especially if the recipe is allowed to sit out for a few hours and “long ferment”.   

In addition, phytic acid is an anti-nutrient that blocks absorption of the nutrients found in wheat. During the sourdough fermentation process, the phytic acid gets broken down and the nutrients are more bio-available to the body. This is why baking with sourdough is so important for our health.

Tips

• Mix up the dough the night before if you want to serve these at noon the following day, or mix it up in the morning if you want to serve them at night.  This will give you the best results and the maximum health benefits of long fermentation.  This also makes the rolls fast and easy to shape and bake before serving.  
• Let the dough rise until doubled, not rushed, this keeps the rolls airy.
• If you need your rolls to rise more slowly because you’ll be out of the house, you can always shape them and then let the dough rise in the refrigerator.
• Sourdough Hawaiian rolls can be made ahead of time and frozen for up to six weeks.  Just thaw, and then warm in the oven for a few minutes before serving.
• Knead the dough for at least 5 minutes in the mixer or 10 minutes by hand, so the gluten gets properly developed.  You can pull up a section of the dough once it’s done mixing and do a windowpane test, where you check to see if you can “see” through it without it tearing.  This means the gluten is properly developed and they will rise well.
• If you want to make a smaller batch of rolls, feel free to cut this recipe in half.  This is just the size that works best for my family.
• Place parchment paper in your baking pan before shaping your rolls.  This makes the rolls easy to remove from the pan once baked.
• You can make these rolls with sourdough discard as long as you add a couple of tablespoons of active dry yeast to the dough.

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