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Spatula holding up a single Pani Popo roll over a pan of Samoan Coconut rolls.
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4.93 from 38 votes

Pani Popo (Samoan Coconut Rolls)

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 Time10 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Hawaiian
Keyword: Coconut, Rolls, Side, Side Dish
Servings: 20 rolls
Calories: 168kcal
Author: Erica Walker

Ingredients

  • 20 frozen dinner rolls depending on size (see note above for homemade rolls)
  • 10 ounces coconut milk
  • 1 cup sugar

Instructions

  • 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).
    Frozen rolls in a baking dish for preparing Pani Popo.
  • Cover with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray (to keep dough from sticking to the plastic wrap). Allow to rise until doubled in size. This can take 4-5 hours.  If you need the rolls to thaw quicker, follow the quick-rise instructions on the frozen roll packaging.
    Rolls rising in a baking dish, a step to preparing a Pani Popo recipe.
  • Pre-heat oven to 350-degrees. In a small saucepan, combine coconut milk and sugar over medium heat and whisk until sugar is dissolved and sauce has thickened (about 5 minutes). If you want a thinner sauce, you can just whisk the sugar and coconut milk together in a bowl without heating.
    Saucepan of coconut sauce for Samoan coconut rolls or Pani Popo.
  • 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.
    Pouring coconut mix from a saucepan onto risen dinner rolls for Pani Popo recipe.
  • Remove from oven and pour remaining coconut mixture evenly over the top of the rolls.
    A coconut mixture being poured over hot rolls for Pani Popo coconut rolls.
  • The rolls should be sticky and gooey on the bottom (read notes above). Can be served upside down or right-side up.
    A sweet Pani Popo Samoan coconut roll on a plate basted in coconut sauce.

Video

Notes

Prep time listed on this recipe is listed as 10 minutes. This DOES NOT include the time it takes for the rolls to rise before baking.

Nutrition

Calories: 168kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 237mg | Potassium: 50mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 11g | Calcium: 76mg | Iron: 2mg