Pineapple Sweet Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing

These sweet rolls are made with Homemade Hawaiian King rolls. Then they are swirled with caramelized pineapple and pineapple curd. These fantastic Hawaiian style pineapple sweet rolls Are just the thing to bring some sunshine to your table.

King's Hawaiian sweet rolls – these rolls taste like that, only better.

This Hawaiian sweet bread recipe is essentially a classic brioche that has a Hawaiian twist by adding pineapple juice, a little bit of ground ginger, and some coconut extract.

King's Hawaiian Rolls are a sweet brioche-style bread. You can find King's Hawaiian bread at most local grocery stores. This bread is sold as a round loaf or in packs of rolls. If you have ever eaten King's Hawaiian rolls, you will know what I mean.

If you haven't ever eaten these delicious rolls, I am so sorry because they are AMAZING!

Good news! Now you can whip up a batch of this sweet roll dough anytime you want.

Ingredients for Hawaiian Sweet Roll Dough

• All-purpose flour:
• Yeast:
• Pineapple juice:
• Buttermilk:
• Butter:
• Eggs:
• Brown Sugar:
• Flavor: dried ginger, vanilla extract, and coconut extract.

How to make Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

1. Melt the butter: In a medium saucepan. Once the butter is melted, remove the butter from the heat and add the buttermilk, pineapple juice, brown sugar, and the vanilla and coconut extract.
2. Mix dry ingredients: In your mixing bowl, add 3 ¾ cups of the flour, the yeast, salt, and ginger.
3. Add the wet ingredients: With the paddle attachment on low, add the melted butter mixture to the mixer. Then add the eggs and the egg yolk one at a time. A sticky dough will form.
4. Switch to dough hook: Beat for 7 to 8 minutes. Add the additional ¼ cup of flour if needed. The dough may still be sticky but do not add more than the 4 cups of flour.
5. Proof the dough: Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap—proof for about an hour and a half.

PRO-TIP: If it's cooler than Hawaii where you live, you should proof your dough in the oven. Turn your oven to 200℉. Once it's preheated, turn the oven off and place the covered dough inside.

Other ways to bake with this Sweet Dough

• Dinner Rolls: The dough for this recipe can be made by itself and then rolled into 12 to 14 dinner rolls. One of my favorites ways to eat these rolls is this a few slices of deli ham tucked inside. Yum!
• Loaves of Sweet Bread: Form the dough into one round loaf and bake either a cast iron pan or a pie pan.
• Sweet Cinnamon Rolls

What else do you need to make Pineapple Sweet rolls?

Each roll is filled with sweet caramelized pineapple and pineapple curd.

Then, they're baked to a golden-brown deliciousness!

The best part – the whole thing is topped with a tangy-sweet pineapple cream cheese icing.

All the steps for making sweet pineapple rolls

1. Make the dough: Then, get it in the pre-warmed oven so that it can start rising.
2. Make the caramelized pineapple: Set it aside to cool.
3. Make the pineapple curd: Get it in the fridge.
4. Assemble your sweet pineapple rolls: Take the risen dough out of the oven and start assembling your sweetrolls.
5. Proof the rolls: Once your sweet rolls are put together you'll need to proof them one more time. Cover with plastic wrap. The rolls should double in size before baking.
6. Bake the rolls: Preheat the oven to 350℉, Bake for 20 minutes.
7. Frosting: Frost with the Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting

Making the Pineapple Curd

There are different methods for making fruit curd. This is an easy double boiler method.

1. Add the pineapple juice, eggs, and sugar to a glass or metal bowl.
2. Place the bowl over a saucepan filled with about a cup of water.
3. Heat and stir continuously until the mixture thickens. (you are looking for a thin pancake batter consistency.)
4. Add the butter a little bit at a time, stir the butter in until melted before adding the next portion.

PRO-TIP: If the mixture isn't getting thick add a quater cup of pineapple juice mixed with 2 teaspoons of cornstarch. Continue to heat until the mixture thickens.

Making the Pineapple Caramel

1. Drain the juice off of the crushed pineapple, save the juice to use in the pineapple cream cheese frosting.
2. Add the crushed pineapple and sugar to a saucepan.
3. Heat over medium heat until the caramel starts to turn an amber color.
4. Stir occasionally. Your goal is to evaporate off as much liquid as possible and carmelize the sugar. You want this pineapple caramel to be sticky but not too thick.

How to assemble sweet rolls

Roll out the sweet roll dough.

Spread with pineapple caramel.

Spread with pineapple curd.

Roll, and cut.

Place in cast iron pan.

What if you want to bake your sweet rolls the next morning?

1. Follow the recipe up to the step where you place them in the pan that you will bake them in and then cover them with plastic.
2. Put the sweet rolls in the refrigerator overnight.
3. Remove the rolls from the refrigerator in the morning and let them rise for about an hour. You can use the pre-warmed oven for this step.

PRO-TIP: My method for doing the morning rise to remove my sweet rolls from the fridge and then place the pan on a baking sheet. I set it on top of my oven whilie I am preheating the oven to the baking temperature of 350℉. I find that the heat from the oven is just enough to help the dough warm and rise perfectly. The rolls should be doubled in size before you bake them.

My daughter's response to these sweet rolls:

"Mom, these are your soul in bun form." Yeah,  pretty much!

More of my Hawaiian Recipes