Pani Popo Samoan Coconut Buns
Pani Popo Samoan Coconut Buns
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| Yield: | 12 buns |
Ingredients
Sweet Yeast Dough
- 3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup Baker's Special Dry Milk
- 2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast or active dry yeast
- 3/4 cup lukewarm water
- 2 large eggs
- 4 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or Buttery Sweet Dough Flavor
Coconut Sauce
- 1 cup coconut milk powder
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
- pinch of salt
Directions
1) Mix and knead the dough ingredients together by hand, mixer, or bread machine set on the dough cycle until you've made a smooth dough. If you're kneading in a stand mixer, it should take 5 to 7 minutes at second speed, and the dough should barely clean the sides of the bowl, perhaps sticking a bit at the bottom. In a bread machine (or by hand), it should form a soft, smooth ball.
2) Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl, and allow the dough to rise, at room temperature, until it's nearly doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Rising may take longer, especially if you've kneaded by hand. Give it enough time to become quite puffy.
3) While the dough is rising, grease a 9" x 13" pan.
4) Gently deflate the dough, and transfer it to a lightly greased work surface. Divide it into 12 pieces.
5) Shape each piece into a rough ball by pulling the dough into a very small knot at the bottom, then rolling it under the palm of your hand into a smooth ball.
6) Place the rolls in the pan, spacing them evenly; they won't touch one another. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and set aside to rise, about 45 to 60 minutes. About halfway though the rise, preheat the oven to 350°F.
7) During the last 20 minutes of rising, prepare the coconut sauce. Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened slightly, about 5 to 7 minutes.
8) Pour the warm, thick sauce over the risen buns and bake in the preheated oven for 18 to 25 minutes, until the buns are golden brown on top and the internal temperature registers 190°F on an instant-read thermometer.
9) Serve the warm buns from the pan, scooping up the thick sauce with a spoon. The coconut milk will form a thin, chewy, intensely coconut skin on top of the buns. It's nearly as addicting as the crisp skin on a holiday turkey.
Yield: 12 buns
Reviews
09/15/2011- I just made these buns this morning and they are very tasty and simple to make. I did think the bun would be more like a sticky bun texture but they were more like a regular fluffy dinner roll. They browned on top very nicely and are so pretty that they should have a picture in a food magazine!! My problem is I had no sauce to scoop up! I'm wondering if it would hurt the recipe if I doubled the sauce amount and poured all of it on the buns before baking. I may give this a shot next time. I've already eaten two this morning and I may have a couple more after my lunch of KAF sourdough pizza crust leftover from last night! Love you KAF!!
09/04/2011- Wonderful, just ideal for Morning coffee and pani popo busn so easy to make, terrycotto
- 08/30/2011
- I just made these. They are incredibly delicious. My only complaint is that I'm not fond of the soggy bottoms. Maybe I did something wrong or didn''t thicken the sauce enough. Either way, I would make them again. Next time, I'm going to try to keep all of the sauce on the top surface by pouring on less in the beginning and then basting the rolls as they cook. I will report back whether this works.
- 08/29/2011
- have made this twice now, 2nd time more successful. I took it to a 'cast away party'. A friend with a broken arm was celebrating her cast removal, so the theme was castaways - aka Gilligan's Island. Boy was there a lot of pineapple and coconut foods. LOL Her husband had grown up in Hawaii, and he saw these buns and immediately identified them and ate about half the pan. He said they were just as good as those he loved during his childhood. Apparently, I will not be admitted to their house again unless I'm carrying a fresh pan of these .... I use canned light coconut milk, not KAF's powder, and added a tsp of coconut extract to the milk. Excellent results!
- 08/24/2011
- This recipe is amazing!!!! The topping is so delicious, I could eat it by itself. Thank you, KAF!!!
- 08/20/2011
- The rolls came out delicious and tender. The coconut topping came out really thick, even though I only cooked it for 5 minutes and when put on the buns stayed mostly on the top. That made them brown unevenly and most of the coconut on the top stayed gooey (which was fine by me as it had more flavor than the browned bits). I also had to cook these an extra 10 minutes to get any brown at all. After cooling for 10 minutes we ate them with hot coffee and they were scrumptious ;D
- 08/19/2011
- The rolls came out delicious and tender. The coconut topping came out really thick, even though I only cooked it for 5 minutes and when put on the buns stayed mostly on the top. That made them brown unevenly and most of the coconut on the top stayed gooey (which was fine by me as it had more flavor than the browned bits). I also had to cook these an extra 10 minutes to get any brown at all. After cooling for 10 minutes we ate them with hot coffee and they were scrumptious ;D
- 05/28/2011
- These were ooooh so good! So sweet and yummy you could easily serve them for dessert! They were easy to prepare and turned out just like the pictures.
- 05/17/2011
- This recipe intrigued me from the first moment I read it. I finally tried it the other day and the buns were amazing. The next time I make it, though, I will make them smaller like double - 24 instead of 12. And I would also make extra coconut sauce to warm up to dip the leftover buns in.
- 05/16/2011
- These delicious buns just popped out of the oven not 10 minutes ago. The aroma was mouthwatering and the taste didn't disappoint. I'm so glad they were so easy to make because I can tell already that they'll be devoured in an instant. I could go for even more coconut flavour while reducing the sugar (I don't like my food too sweet in general). I think I've seen coconut extracts (or something similar) in the Asian groceries which might do the trick to more coconut flavour (hopefully not with an artificial taste). I actually made them in 2 cake pans (6 in each) and they filled them up perfectly. Though the recipe made the buns even larger (9 vs 12), I would go the opposite route and make them smaller next time. My theory is that smaller buns means more surface area in contact with the coveted coconut sauce! Surely everyone will fight over scooping up the sauce. I really enjoyed the slightly chewy-crispy crust on top. It reminded me a bit of some sweet buns from the Asian bakeries. Thanks so much KA for introducing such a delightful treat to us!
