Food Pusher: Hawaiian Bread Rolls

Hawaiian Bread Rolls

Spring break means sleeping in and doing what I want. And what I wanted to do today is bake something new and blog about it. I've toyed with the idea of making Hawaiian style rolls since my husband LOVES King's Hawaiian Bread, but today is the first time I've done it. They turned out awesome too. Not exactly like King's Hawaiian, but awesome nonetheless. They're so soft and tender in the middle, and just slightly sweet. I may even add a little more sugar next time. They'll be great for little sandwiches and for breakfast and just to enjoy with dinner.
I'm glad I've finally made these. Now I'll just have to make some more and freeze them because, honestly, they take a little bit longer than the usual rolls I make. Perhaps I'll have to invest in the King Arthur Flour's recommended SAF Gold Instant Yeast. You can stop reading now. I'm just rambling. Go try these rolls.

Hawaiian Bread Rolls
Adapted from Kingarthurflour.com

Ingredients:

1/4 cup King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon instant yeast
2 tablespoons water

2 3/4 cup King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour
3 tablespoons instant mashed potato flakes (or 2 tablespoons potato flour)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup softened butter
1/2 cup pineapple or pineapple/orange juice
2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten (keep egg white in fridge for brushing dough later)
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

In a large mixing bowl, mix the 1/4 cup flour, instant yeast, and water. Cover and set aside for 15 minutes to rest. (Please note that the next time I do this I am going to skip this step and add the yeast to the dry ingredients, and then cut in the butter. Then I will stir the wet ingredients into the dry. This is all because I don't think my sponge worked smoothly into the dough through my hand kneading.)
In a small bowl, whisk together the 2 3/4 cup flour, potato flakes, and salt.
Add the butter, juice, eggs, sugar, and vanilla to the "sponge" that's been resting. Try to mix those ingredients as well as you can. Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly until a sticky dough forms.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently until smooth, adding only enough flour so the dough doesn't stick to the work surface. When dough is smooth and springy, return it to the large mixing bowl. Cover and allow to rise for about 2 hours.
Spray a 9x13 inch cake pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
Turn risen dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pulling up around the edges, form the dough into a nice purse. Gently press the purse down into a circle about an inch or inch and a half thick. Cut into 16 equal pieces.
Form each of the pieces into a little purse and set aside. When all of the pieces are purses, go back to the first and form into a nice tight little ball. (Click here for a short video of how I do this. You'll need to scroll down a little to get to the video clip.)
Place dough balls in a 4 x 4 array in the greased pan. Cover lightly with a piece of plastic wrap that's been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Allow to rise until puffy, about 1 1/2 hours.
While rolls rise, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mix the egg white with 1 tablespoon water. Brush tops and sides of rolls with egg wash.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until deep golden brown and internal temperature reaches 190 degrees on a digital thermometer.
Remove rolls from oven and allow to cool about 3 minutes before turning them out onto a cooking rack to finish cooling.