Gluten Free products have take the country by storm. And this Hawaiian sweet bread recipe is delicious. Just ask my cousin Lynn…the creator of this marvelous loaf!
Lynn showed up at a family luncheon with his own basket of gluten free products since he knew the rest of us who had cooked the meal were not aware of his dietary restrictions. (It turns out Lynn has been eating gluten free for years.) And since he wasn’t about to eat an entire loaf of bread by himself he was happy to share with the rest of us.
This slightly sweet bread was light and airy, and the flavor was as good (or maybe even better) than any other sweet bread dinner rolls I have tried before. There was absolutely no way to tell that the list of ingredients were so much different than those you would find in a traditional Hawaiian roll or bread.
So thanks to Cousin Lynn for sharing this delicious bread with me…and now I’m happy to share it with all of you, too!
Gluten Free Hawaiian Sweet Bread
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup Warm Water (105-110 Degrees)
- 2 tsps. Sugar
- 1 pkg. Active Dry Yeast (2 1/4 tsps.)
- 2 Cups Brown Rice Flour
- 1/2 Cup Potato Starch (NOT Potato Flour)
- 1/2 Cup Tapioca Starch/Flour
- 1/2 Cup Sugar
- 1 Tblsp. Xanthan Gum
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 3 Tblsps. Vegetable Oil or Melted Butter
- 3 Large Eggs
- 1/2 Cup Warm Milk or Milk of Choice
Instructions
-
1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan or two six inch round cake pans.
2. In a small bowl, combine warm water, 2 tsp. sugar and the yeast. Stir just until dissolved. Cover bowl with a clean kitchen towel and set aside in a warm area for 10 minutes. (Mixture will form a foam head about one inch tall.)
3. Place rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch/flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, xanthan gum and salt in the bowl of a food processor or a heavy duty stand mixer with paddle attachment. Blend dry ingredients together for about 3 minutes. (If mixing by hand, whisk all dry ingredients together with a whisk until well combined.)
4. In a small bowl, whisk oil or melted butter with the eggs and warm milk until blended.
5. Add egg mixture to the dry ingredients and combine. Then add the yeast mixture to dough and mix again until dough forms. (If using a mixer this step takes about 5 minutes. With food processor about 2 or 3 minutes. By hand about 10 minutes.) Dough will be soft and sticky.
6. Transfer dough into prepared pan(s). Smooth top of dough with wet hands or a spatula dipped in water. Place in a warm area to rise for about 40 minutes.
7. Score loaf about 1/4 inch deep with a sharp knife. (If a shiny crust is desired, brush with an egg mixed with about 1 tblsp. of water.)
Place pan(s) in preheated 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes for a loaf and 35-40 minutes for two boules. Bread is done when bottom of loaf sounds hollow when tapped, and internal temp reaches 195-200F.
Do you think I could use this in a bread maker?
A great question Nancy! I checked with Lynn and he said he doesn’t have a bread machine but he thought it should work, as long as you make sure to allow the dough to rest before baking. (I have a bread machine but I will admit I haven’t used in in YEARS!) Be sure to let me know how it works for you!
XOXO
Meemaw
I have only made this recipe in a bread machine and it was delicious. My machine has a gluten free bread cycle so I use that and follow the suggested order of ingredients based on the bread machine instructions. So my machine has you add the wet ingredients first mixing them together , then the dry ingredients mixing them together before adding, and finally the yeast(dry form- not proofed)
want to try this when I have time!
Thanks Linda…I think you’ll love it!
XOXO
Meemaw
I was there and didn’t realize that was Hawaiian Sweet Bread now I wish I had tasted it!
LOL! Sorry Cousin! You snooze…you lose! 🙂
SO now you will just have to make a loaf yourself! (It was really good…and it was SO GOOD to see you too!)
XOXO
Meemaw
I have a loaf in the bread maker as I am writing this. I made a loaf yesterday mixing and baking in the oven it turned out good! My daughter needs the gluten free products so i make it for her! The more recipes you put out there the better I will try them! Let you know about the one in the bread machine!! Thanks so much!
Nancy
Thanks so much for letting me know how your oven loaf turned out…and be sure to share your bread making results using your bread maker! I have several more tried and tested recipes to share from Cousin Lynn, so stay tuned after Thanksgiving for more! I appreciate your comments and your support. 🙂
XOXO
Meemaw
Could you use an all purpose gluten free flour?
I’m so sorry for the delay in answering Shannon, but unfortunately I have no experience with gluten free products! I’m always game to try things so if you decide to give it a go, let me know how it turns out for you!
XOXO
Meemaw
I made this yesterday for thanksgiving with Better batter gluten free/gum free flour, no added xGum, and also in my bread maker! Omgoodness is all I can say! Our favorite bread so far!!! Thank you!
Hi – I’m just curious to know how this can be Hawaiian bread if it doesn’t have any pineapple juice in the ingredients?
Hi Sharon,
Have you had Hawaiian dinner rolls from the grocery store? I’m pretty sure there is no pineapple juice in those either! 🙂
Happy Baking!!
XOXO
Meemaw
Just wanted to say for Sharon that Hawaiian sweet rolls aren’t called Hawaiian because of pineapple juice, they’re called Hawaiian because there was a commonly-eaten sweet bread in Hawaii that got brought over to the Mainland in original form looking much like Cousin Lynn’s homemade GF sweet bread in Meemaw’s pictures and then got diversified into a bunch of other products, like dinner rolls and sliced bread-shaped loaves, etc. That’s what you find in the grocery store, and a number of different manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon following King’s Bakery, which I think first popularized it outside of Hawaii. I can’t believe Cousin Lynn managed such a realistic-looking loaf and I can’t wait to try the recipe for Thanksgiving!
Thanks so much for your informative comments Kimi! I hope your loaf turned out exactly the way you envisioned it on Thanksgiving!
Happy Holidays!
XOXO
Meemaw