Samoan Coconut Bread Rolls (Pani Popo) (2024)

Samoan Coconut Bread Rolls, aka Pani Popo, are decadent sweet dinner rolls baked in coconut milk. Light, airy, and fluffy, they are unbelievably good! Pani Popo is baked in a delicious coconut sauce that makes it even better.

My immense love of anything and everything coconut, coupled with my constant urge to make my weekend morning worth looking forward to, steer me towards these Samoan Coconut Bread Rolls.

When I saw this recipe, I knew it would ultimately lead me into the danger zone, but I did not heed the warning.

They are every bit as tender, pillowy, and crusty on the outside, just like these my favorite Sweet Bread Rolls.

The difference between these two rolls lies mainly in the flavor of the dough. The coconut milk adds a special depth of flavor to the dough with a slight coconut flavor, making it amazingly tender and light in texture.

What is Pani Popo?

Samoan Coconut Bread Rolls or Pani Popo is so uncomplicated and flavorful. It is a soft dinner roll baked with a deliciously sweet coconut sauce.

Soft and fluffy on the inside and richly gooey on the bottom.

Most of the recipes I perused had some kind of milk, so I researched the purpose of powdered milk in the bread. It helps to deepen the flavor and produces a beautiful golden and crusty outer layer.

It’s still quite tasty without it.

I only added as much coconut milk as the bread could absorb. If you prefer a soggy bottom, add more coconut milk (about a ¼ cup more).

You can make these sweet rolls entirely without a stand mixer. Yes, it sure aids the process. However, I often make it without a stand mixer. A large bowl will do just fine.

I simply love every bite of this bread. You can certainly eat more than five in one sitting!

Enjoy!!!!

Pani Popo Recipe Ingredients

• Active Dry Yeast gives this bread a beautiful rise and a wonderful yeasty flavor.
• Water – Just enough water to dissolve the yeast, not more.
• Coconut Milk gives these incredible bread rolls the coconutty flavor I absolutely love.
• Butter creates a richness that makes these soft Samoan Coconut Rolls ridiculously scrumptious.
• Egg is a good binder and adds to the softness.
• Powdered Milk – I used full-fat powdered milk for a more decadent bread, but you can use what you have.
• Sugar sweetens up everything. It also helps the yeast rise.
• Salt is an essential pantry staple for enhancing flavor.
• All-purpose Flour is the principal ingredient and what makes it bread.
• Raw Sugar makes a beautifully sweet topping. You can leave it out if desired.

Alternative Ingredients

• Yeast – This bread gets its softness and delicious flavor, partly from the yeast. You can use other types of bread yeast; just follow the instructions on the package. If you have a sourdough starter, you can replace the yeast with a ¼ cup of starter and adjust the liquid ingredients to compensate.
• Coconut Milk – If you have coconut yogurt instead, that will work. Or you can make one at home using this Homemade Coconut Milk recipe
• Milk – If you’d like a dairy-free version, you can look for powdered coconut milk. Full-fat is best because the higher the fat content, the softer the bread will be. Or you can replace it with warm water.
• Sugar – You can leave it out if you’d like.

Tips & Notes

1. Make sure the water is not too hot. You don’t want it warmer than body temperature.
2. Divide the coconut milk in half, one cup for the dough and the other cup for baking.
3. The soft dough will firm up as it rises the first time, so try not to add too much flour. It’s better to err on the side caution by not adding enough flour than adding too much. You can always add more flour, but you can’t take it out once it’s in the dough.
4. For your bread to be fluffy, it has to double in size. Be patient. This one took about 3 hours to double in size. Sometimes even more. It depends on the weather, humidity, and altitude.
5. Go easy on the flour – try not to add too much. Again, it’s better to put less flour than more. Remember, you can always add more flour, but you can’t take it out once it’s in the dough.
6. When making these rolls make sure you only use enough flour to keep it from sticking to your hands – the dough should be a little bit sticky. Too hard will produce a not-so-soft roll.
7. If your bread does not rise in an hour, try turning on the oven to warm for 10 minutes. Then, turn it off and let the dough rise in the oven.
8. If all else fails, mix rapid rise yeast into the dough and knead.

Serving & Storage Instructions

Samoan Coconut Bread Rolls are, in my opinion, best right out of the oven. But that’s not always possible.

To properly store the bread, allow it to cool completely, then store it in a container (it doesn’t have to be airtight, but you don’t want your bread to dry out and get dusty, either) away from direct heat or sunlight. If it’s not cool, then steam will make it soggy and mold faster.

Breadbox is a perfect place to store bread, but not everyone has one of those. Keeping it inside of the cabinet will work just as well. On top of the refrigerator, not so much because it gets too warm there.

Freezing. If I think it might be more than three or four days before we’re going to eat these scrumptious Pani Popos, I freeze them in an airtight freezer container until we’re ready to chow down.

Reheating. Then I thaw them in the fridge and reheat them in the oven for a few minutes. They’ll last in the freezer for up to six months.

FAQs

What to Eat with Pani Popo?

This recipe goes great with any Micronesian, Polynesian, or Asian food. For example, these Hawaiian Grilled Chicken Thighs would be perfect.

Caribbean food, like this Grilled Caribbean Coconut Shrimp or Caribbean-style Fried Rice, would also be a good match.

As a matter of fact, I think it would go great with just a cup of coffee.

More Easy Bread Recipes

• Easy Potato Bread – Soft, delicious, and perfect for sandwich bread. Not to mention, it’s a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes.
• No-Knead Bread – The thought of bread-making scares a lot of people. But this Italian-style no-knead bread takes easy to a new level.
• Irish Soda Bread – A beautiful dense yeast-free bread that will satisfy your soul. The buttermilk gives it a pleasant tang, and the raisins give it the perfect amount of sweetness.
• Cloud Bread – This scrumptious and naturally gluten-free bread is a keto-lovers dream. Eggs and cream cheese pair for an unbelievably heavenly experience.
• Cinnamon Raisin Bread – I have to admit, I have a special spot in my sweet tooth area for anything cinnamon, whether it’s cinnamon rolls, rice pudding, or this delicious toastable cinnamon bread.

How to Make Pani Popo

Prepare the yeast

• Activate the yeast – Combine three tablespoons of lukewarm water and the yeast in a standing mixer. Let it sit until the yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes. (Photo 1)

Prepare the wet ingredients

• Warm the wet ingredients – Meanwhile, combine one cup of coconut milk with the butter pieces, sugar, and salt in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave it for about a minute. Stir until everything is melted. (Photo 2)
• Add egg and powdered milk – Lightly whisk the egg and powdered milk into the butter mixture (if it is too hot, let it cool to warm enough to prevent the eggs from curdling.) (Photo 3 & 4)

Add the rest of the ingredients

• Mix it all – Dump everything (all remaining ingredients except the optional raw sugar) into the yeast mixture. (Photo 5)
• Mix for two minutes at medium speed or by hand. Add about 3½ cups of flour and continue mixing dough. (Photo 6)
• Add in enough flour (if needed) to make a soft dough.

Knead and let rise

• Knead – Turn dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 to 12 minutes or more if you want airy bread. (Photo 7)
• Oil dough – Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning it once to coat it with oil. (Photo 8)
• Resting time – Cover loosely with a clean cloth and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for an hour or two or until doubled. Be sure to let the rolls rise; otherwise, your dinner rolls won’t be light and fluffy and decadent like the pictures.

Prepare the rolls

• Form the rolls – After the dough doubles, punch it down and divide it into 12 equal pieces – a little over 2 ounces apiece. (Photos 9 & 10)
• Round them out – To form round balls, you have to tuck the edges underneath the dough, then roll it against the board or between your palms until it’s round. (Photo 11)

Get ready! Set! Bake!

• Prepare for baking – Arrange the shaped balls in a buttered baking dish. Space them evenly but note that they fit more snugly across the pan. (Photo 12)
• Bake until the crust is deep golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. It might take about 20-25 minutes, depending on your oven. Start checking after 15 minutes, so it doesn’t brown too fast. Lower temperature if needed.

Watch How to Make It

[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”1agyDoFu” upload-date=”Mon Aug 06 2018 20:37:44 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)” name=”Samoan Coconut Bread Rolls (Pani Popo)” description=”Samoan Coconut Bread Rolls aka Pani Popo. Decadent Sweet Dinner Rolls baked in coconut milk .Light, Airy and Fluffy .Unbelievably good!!”]

This blog post was first published in November 2016 and has been updated with additional tips, and a video.