Oh how I love Pani Popo. Even though it is a Samoan dish, I was first introduced to it when I lived in Hawaii. As I have mentioned before, I worked at a bakery when I lived in Hawaii and was introduced to SO MANY amazing treats and recipes– this being one of my-all time favorites. I loved waking up early in the morning and making these delicious rolls. The smell is intoxicating!
Pani popo is such an easy dish to make and it is oh so tasty. If you have never had Pani popo before, it is basically a soft dinner roll baked with a sweet coconut sauce. It is soft and fluffy on the inside and the bottom is nice and gooey– like a gooey sweet roll should be (but gooier). I love that I am am able to make these at home for my family (and that they LOVE them as much as I do… seriously… my kids go nuts over these)!
You can serve this with pretty much any dish– you can serve it as a breakfast item, side dish or even dessert. With Thanksgiving coming up, this would be a great way to switch things up and try a new kind of dinner roll that the whole family will love! Try it! You are going to love it!
If you want to go traditional and make your own, made from scratch rolls, you can use the recipe HERE or if you want a quick and easy alternative, you can just use frozen rolls and thaw them (both taste great).
If you want to SEE how these are made, check out the video below! The video is less than one minute long and you will be able to see step-by-step how it’s done. Don’t forget to share with your friends 😉
- 12-20 frozen dinner rolls depending on size (see note above for homemade rolls)
- 1 10 oz. can coconut milk
- 1 c. sugar
- Coat a 9x13 glass baking dish with cooking spray and arrange rolls evenly to thaw (if doing homemade rolls, roll dough into golf-ball size balls and arrange the same way).
- Cover with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray (to keep dough from sticking to the plastic wrap).
- Allow to rise until doubled in size.
- Pre-heat oven to 350-degrees.
- In a bowl, combine coconut milk and sugar and whisk until sugar is dissolved.
- Pour about 2/3 of the coconut mixture over the rolls and bake for 20-30 minutes (or according to package/dough recipe instructions) or until golden brown and dough is baked through.
- Remove from oven and pour remaining coconut mixture evenly over the top of the rolls.
- The rolls should be sticky and gooey on the bottom (read notes above). Can be served upside down or right-side up.
Like belly stickers…sort of…
My friend makes these. They are so good!
My neighbor makes something like this only she leaves out the sugar and uses 2 T. Corn starch and 2 T. water to the coconut milk.
Sugar is relative. Some people use only 1/2 cup. Some use cornstarch and some do not. Corn starch makes the sauce a little thicker is all. Some even use half coconut milk and half water with the cornstarch.
What brand of frozen dinner rolls you like to use?
Typically we will use Rhoades rolls.
What grocery store do you find Rhoades rolls in typically. ..I have looked around my area aND can’t find them? Thanks
We have found them at almost any grocery store in the U.S. Did you look in the frozen section?
I have not found frozen buns in my Safeway or Foodland in Hi. I have to make my own sweet bread
Homemade is definitely the best. I bet your pani popo is amazing! 🙂
Walmart sells the Rhodes frozen dinner rolls
use whatever brand you have. They are in the freezer section
I was SUPER excited to try this :I LOVE anything coconut . What I ended up with were rolls where the tops were beautiful golden brown and the bottoms were very slimy and beyond soggy. The texture was SO disgusting I cannot see how anyone would like this. I must have done something wrong as the recipe was SUPER simple. What did I do wrong??
The texture is supposed to be very wet.. the bottoms are supposed to be drenched in the coconut milk. That is how they are in Hawaii. Sorry it didn’t turn out the way you had expected!
All your recipes you post look scrumptious. This one I could do looks pretty easy.
Thank you so much! You will love the Pani Popo rolls. They are delicious!
recipe for homemade rolls for the Pani Popo rolls are on a broken link. where to find it??
Thank you for letting us know the link is broken! It is now fixed. You can find the recipe here:
https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/moms-homemade-rolls/
How do you store these and for how long?
They don’t stay great for way long– I would say a day or two at most. They will get too soggy. Definitely the best fresh.
Do you have a good recipe for peanut butter bars?
You bet! https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/peanut-butter-bars/