These very fluffy buns have a unique flavor and texture. Their slight sweetness makes them great for brunch tables and afternoon tea, sandwiches, curries and chilis. They're a wink to the popular Hawaiian rolls, keep well for several days and can be frozen.
Slightly sweet soft buns for multiple uses
These are not so neutral but more on the sweet side. Not exactly the usual Hawaiian rolls from the supermarket, though they can be used as such.
I love homemade small buns with unexpected ingredients, like these simple bread rolls with beer or the semolina buns.
When it comes to coconut, we usually use them for sweet bakes. Well, these coconut buns are just sweet enough and very popular.
- Coconut: use the shredded unsweetened type. Unless you want very sweet buns, then you can use sweet coconut.
- Bread flour: it has more gluten than all-purpose flour and lends a more rustic texture. So it's always the first choice when making this recipe. But you can use all purpose if that's all you have and you'll get very good results.
- I sometimes add ground macadamia nuts to the dough. They add crunchiness and creaminess.
The nice part of this bread is that it's savory with a hint of coconut flavor. It's more of an aftertaste, present but not completely there at the same time.
Some thinly sliced pork tenderloin with mango chutney, or grilled pineapple with ham would go wonderfully with them. Or the carnitas from these taco recipe I'm cooking right now, if there are any left.
How to Make Sure Yeast Works
- Check expiration date: Replace if expired.
- Visual check: Should be beige to light brown and granular/powdery. Avoid if grayish, clumpy, or discolored.
- Smell test: Should have a mild, slightly sweet smell. Strong or unpleasant odors indicate it's bad.
Proofing test: Mix ½ teaspoon sugar in ¼ cup warm water (comfortable to touch). Sprinkle ½ teaspoon of dry yeast on top and stir gently. Wait 5-10 minutes until you start to see some activity. Fresh yeast will foam and bubble more; instant bubbles less than active dry yeast.
Golden Rule: When in doubt, buy new! It's better to be safe than to have your baked goods fall flat and be inedible.
How to make soft coconut buns
It's a straight dough, which means we use dry yeast, but we make a sponge first.
The dough is easy to work with and can be made in the stand mixer with the dough hook if you don't want to involve ten minutes of arm muscle kneading them by hand.
Resting the dough: homemade bread usually involves a lot of resting or proofing time, where the bread dough rises and the yeast creates a structure together with the gluten that developed during kneading. Respect these times and make sure the dough doubles or rises as specified in the recipe. This will ensure fluffy, well baked rolls.
The sponge
The key here is to see bubbles. That means the yeast is working, and the sponge will give the final dough more strength.
The dough
It will not be completely smooth, as the coconut creates texture. It's important to let it rise until doubled and then gently deflate it with your hand.
Make sure the bowl can accommodate the dough's volume.
Form and rise
If they fit barely touching in the pan before rising, after baking they will have more sides with a soft crumb except for those sides touching the edges. So choose accordingly.
Final rise
They might not double, but they will be noticeably puffed and a tad wobbly.
They will fit snuggly before baking.
Baking
Besides the tops being golden brown and dry, you can partially lift a bun and see if it still has wet strands attached and gently open one with a fork to check inside. The middle ones take a bit longer.
Related recipes you might like:
If you made this recipe and loved it, you can comment below and leave a 5-star ⭐️ review. Also, if you had issues, let me know so we can troubleshoot together.
You can also subscribe to our FREE email series 'Baking the Best' and our regular newsletter. Or follow and save my recipes on Pinterest.
Coconut Buns (yeasted rolls)
Ingredients
For the sponge:
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- ⅛ teaspoon sugar
- 1 ½ cups bread flour, or all purpose flour
- 2 cups warm water, not hot
For the bread:
- 4 cups bread flour, or all purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, I use sunflower oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¾ cups unsweetened shredded coconut, you can lightly toast it; let cool completely before using it
Instructions
For the sponge:
- In the bowl of the stand mixer (or large bowl if doing this by hand), put 2 cups warm water and sprinkle ⅛ teaspoon sugar and 1 tablespoon active dry yeast over.
- Add 1 ½ cups bread flour and mix well with a wooden spoon until most lumps are gone. Some will remain. You can do this with the paddle attachment, but I think it's too much trouble.
- Cover with a clean, dry kitchen towel and let stand until bubbly and puffed, about 30-40 minutes.
For the bread:
- To the sponge, add 1 cup flour, 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon salt1 tablespoon sugar and ¾ cups unsweetened shredded coconut.
- Attach to the mixer and, using the dough hook, start mixing everything, adding 3 more cups of flour, ½ cup at a time. After 3 or 4 minutes of kneading, the dough should be soft but not sticky. If needed, add up to an extra ½ cup of flour. But don't end up with a dry dough. I used 4 cups total in my recipe.
- If kneading by hand, do so for 5 to 7 minutes on a clean surface, lightly flouring as necessary after the dough comes together.
- Transfer dough to a greased deep bowl, turn to grease on all sides, cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place until doubled, about 1 ½ to 2 hours.
- Gently deflate the dough with your fist and dump it onto a lightly floured surface. Give it a few kneads and divide it into 12 equal pieces of dough using a kitchen knife or dough scraper. The amount can vary if you want more smaller buns or fewer larger ones. You can also weigh the whole dough, divide it by the amount of rolls you want to make, and weigh each piece to have very even buns; I never bother to do that, I just eyeball it.
- Shape each piece into a ball, pinching the bottom. Cover it with the palm of your hand, and, moving your hand counterclockwise to your left (or the other way, it doesn't matter), shape them into balls, as tight as you can.
- Grease a baking pan, and put the dough balls next to each other, barely touching. Cover with a clean, dry towel and let rise until almost doubled, about 30 to 40 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF/200°C about 20 minutes before baking.
- Bake the buns for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are dry and golden and the rolls sound hollow when lightly tapped on the bottom.
- Let cool on a wire rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Adapted from Bread for all Seasons, by Beth Hensperger
Tal Hason says
Looks amazingly tasty!
macadamia nuts
Marissa | Pinch and Swirl says
Beautiful! I'm thinking these would be great as little buns for fish sliders at a BBQ...
Laura@bakinginpyjamas says
The flavour's in these roll are very summery indeed. Great idea!
mireia badia says
Que bien que al final, aunque no a la primera, te saliesen así de bien los buns, tienen una pinta genial como siempre Paula!!
Lail | With A Spin says
Great buns. Love anything with coconut.
Alice @ Hip Foodie Mom says
Paula!!
Wow! the fact that this is your 3rd time baking for this post, makes me love these more. . and omg!!! These look perfect and delicious!! I was wondering why you changed from Hawaiian Rolls. . 🙂 love this . . I could eat bread and butter all day. . adding this to my 12-page "must bake" list! 🙂 LOVE!
Natalie G says
Wow what an awesome recipe, I bet the smell and taste is unreal!!
Laura Dembowski says
I absolutely love eat street. Of course, I love most food shows. These buns look great and have such unique flavors. It seems like you made a great comeback from the failures.
Cocoa and Lavender says
What an unusual combination! They sound amazing, Paula! Oh, I am so sorry about your trials to get to this batch! Do you want to scream when this happens? I do - I made this beautiful crostata one day and when it was almost finished baking I heard a lour pop from the oven. Wondering what it was I opened to find the tart pan had cracked in two, and the middle of the crostata was headed for the oven floor. A sticky, gooey mess. I screamed. And pouted. You are probably better behaved than I. ~ David
knitstamatic says
Oh boy, bread on the floor, socks in the shower...what a day! In the end this recipe looks fabulous and I can almost smell the wonder of macadamia nuts and coconut baked into bread, yum!
Angie Barrett says
I would eat an entire pan of those! yum!
Rhu Sam says
Me encanta este pan que se divide en bollitos individuales! Me parece una idea genial para compartir. Además tienen pinta de estar muy esponjosos, ummm con un buen aceite me comía los 12!
Medeja says
These buns sound interesting, I would have imagined that macadamia and coconut buns would be sweet 🙂
Andrea_TheKitchenLioness says
Paula, I have never seen "summer buns" before but this recipe sounds so amazing - I am so curious how these macadamia coconut buns taste like! So, I guess I will just have to bake these beauties myself then!
Have a lovely Wednesday!
Lori @ Foxes Love Lemons says
These are so pretty! If I knew the first thing about baking bread, I'd already be out in the kitchen making them. I seriously cannot get enough coconut lately. I think I could inject it directly into my arm, and still want more. too graphic? haha.
The Ninja Baker says
Intriguing indeed how the buns have a savory flavor and only the sweet of the coconut /macadamia mix later.
My hat is off to you Paula for your diligence in getting the bread perfect for post....With social media, e-mails, telephones and technology buzzing all around, it's a wonder any of us stay mildly sane =)
Beautifully done, Paula <3
Lyn @LovelyPantry says
Oh yes, I can totally relate to having days that that. At least you can have a nice laugh about it after the fact 🙂 These buns look gorgeous and so intriguing to me. Such unusual pairing of the macadamia and coconut...brilliant. I love breads like this. 🙂