Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

Sprinkle the yeast on the warm water in a small bowl with a pinch of the sugar. Set aside for about 5 minutes until the yeast is foamy.

Melt the butter in a small pan, then add in the pineapple juice.

Add the sugar and salt to the melted butter/juice and stir to combine.

Crack the egg and use a fork to whip it into the butter/juice mix.

Put the flour into a large bowl or your stand mixer bowl. Make a well in the center with your hands, then pour in the butter mixture then the yeast mixture.

Stir with a spatula or the dough hook attachment to make a rough dough.

After that, with a dough hook on your stand mixer, beat the dough for about 5 minutes on low speed (2 on a Kitchen Aid) until you get an extremely elastic dough that you can pull in heavy strings off the dough hook. This dough will be very sticky.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and allow to rise on the counter. If you’re working in a space with a warm room temperature, it will take the dough about 1 hour for the first rise.

The dough is ready to shape when it is about double in bulk and visibly poofy.

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and brush a 9×13 cake pan with about half of the butter.

Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 24 pieces.

Form your hand into a dome, then turn a piece of dough inside your hand dome around clockwise and few times. This will neaten up the edges and make a nice round shape.

Set the rolls inside your prepared pan with very little space between the rolls. Cover the rolls to rise for 30 minutes.

Towards the end of the 30 minutes, preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).

Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes until the tops are golden brown.

Melt the remaining butter and brush it over the tops and sides of the hot rolls.

These rolls are best the day that they’re made, though they freeze like a champion. To freeze a batch, let them cool down completely, then transfer to a plastic bag. Remove all the air from the bag, then freeze flat for up to 3 months.

Cut through the bread rolls horizontally so it makes two complete sheets of bread.

Spread on your favorite condiments (that mustard and avjar for me), then meat and cheese on one side. (I’m using roast beef and shredded chive monterey jack).

Pop the cheesed up size of the rolls back into the oven for 5-10 minutes until the cheese melts.

Top the hot side of the rolls with more meat (salami, ham, turkey), lettuce, and tomato slices. Sometimes I throw on olives or sliced shallots.

Spread the top of the buns with more mustard and mayo or whatever condiments you like.

Pop a toothpick through each roll, then slice through the buns along the lines.