Pani Popo is a Samoan sweet roll baked in a delicious coconut sauce. One of my favorite Pacific-Island dishes from my bakery days in Hawaii.
- Prep time
- 5 hours
- Cook time
- 30 min
- Servings
- 10
Ingredients
- Frozen Rolls: You can also make your own yeast rolls with a Homemade Dinner Rolls recipe. It’s an easy recipe using ingredients like all-purpose flour, active dry yeast, butter, and salt mixed into a soft dough and baked into rolls. Or, you can use frozen rolls to cut your prep time way down.
- Coconut Milk: Full fat version is best.
- Sugar: To sweeten the coconut milk for the sauce.
Method
- Prepare the rolls: Lightly spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Arrange frozen rolls evenly in the dish. (If using homemade dough, roll into golf-ball sized balls and arrange the same way.)
- Let the rolls rise: Cover loosely with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Let the rolls rise until doubled in size, about 4-5 hours. For faster thawing, follow the quick-rise instructions on the frozen roll package.
- Make the coconut sauce: Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small saucepan, whisk together the coconut milk and sugar over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the sauce slightly thickens, about 5 minutes. (For a thinner sauce, simply whisk the coconut milk and sugar together in a bowl without heating.)
- Add sauce and bake: Pour about two-thirds of the coconut mixture evenly over the rolls. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the rolls are golden brown and cooked through.
- Finish with remaining sauce: Remove from the oven and pour the remaining coconut mixture evenly over the top.
- Serve: The rolls should be soft, sticky, and gooey on the bottom. Serve warm, either right-side up or flipped over to show the coconut glaze.