Moist and slightly sweet with a subtle hint of coconut, what’s not to like about Pani Popo? You will love these Coconut Bread for breakfast, snack or dessert! If you love coconut flavored bread, also try my Coconut Buns with Milky Sweet Filling.
While we Filipinos consume a good amount of rice for meals, I think we are, secondly, bread people. We eat bread for breakfast, merienda (snacks), dip them in coffee, and pair them with everything from ice cream to hotdogs.
I personally love bread so much and I also love discovering new tastes and flavors. Pani Popo is one of my favorite bread from another culture and as you will see, I have good, good reasons.
This Coconut Bread Recipe is one of my favorites. It is unique: a soft bread with a surprise coconut glaze at the bottom!
Coconut Bread or Pani Popo
So let me entice you by explaining why I love them so much. These coconut bread originated from an Island in the Southern part of the Pacific Ocean called Samoa.
They are baked in glorious sweetened coconut milk. They come out so moist and soft with a slight teasing of tropical coconut flavor.
Imagine, soft yeast bread with a gooey, sticky and sweet coconut glaze at the bottom! So, so good!
You have to try it and I know you are gonna love it. So let’s bake, shall we?
Coconut Bread Ingredients
- Coconut Milk. Coconut milk is added to the dough for a slight note of flavor, then it also makes up the soaking coconut liquid to bake the buns in.
- Milk Powder. Adds tenderness and moisture to our yeast bread. I love adding this to bread dough ( try Tasty Sandwich and Japanese Milk Buns).
- Active Dry Yeast. If you use instant yeast, I still recommend proofing the yeast as stated in the recipe.
- All-Purpose Flour. You can also use bread flour.
- Butter
- Egg
- Sugar
- Powdered Sugar
See the recipe card for the rest of the ingredients.
Coconut Bread (Pani Popo): The Process
Make Bread Dough-Proof the yeast by combining it with warm water and a bit of sugar. Once the mixture is foamy, add in the rest of the dough ingredients (except the flour).
Stir everything with a wooden spoon. Next, gradually add 3 and 1/2 cups of flour and stir it in until it is incorporated. If the dough is still too wet, add a bit of flour from the reserved amount, and stir just until the dough gathers into a soft, shaggy mass in the center of the bowl.
Knead the Dough- On a floured board, turn the dough over and knead it for 10-12 minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic that it can stretch thinly when you do the windowpane test. New to kneading? Check out this guide on how to knead bread dough.
Characteristics of an Adequately Kneaded Dough
- From being shaggy and bumpy, the dough becomes smooth and shiny.
- The dough is no longer sticky, rather it is a bit tacky.
- The dough can stretch thinly. Take a small portion, stretch it using your fingers, as if to form a square. There should be a transparent window at the center.
Rise, Shape the Coconut Bread and Second Rise– After kneading, shape dough into a ball and place it in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise for an hour or more, until doubled in size. Punch dough down and divide into 12 equal portions.
Shape each portion into a ball and arrange it in a lightly greased or parchment-lined 9 x 13 -inch baking pan. Let the rolls rise, and covered with a clean kitchen towel or plastic. Wrap for 40 minutes, until doubled in size.
Make the Coconut Liquid and Bake!- Preheat oven to 350 F. Brush the rolls with coconut milk. Stir in the sugar to the remaining coconut milk and pour this milk into the pan.
Finally, bake it for 22-25 minutes or until golden. Serve warm and enjoy.
Pointers and Tips
- The coconut soaking liquid will turn into a thick, somewhat like a sweet glaze on the bottom of the pan. This is so good!
- If you want a bit more coconut flavor, you can add few drops of coconut extract to the soaking liquid.
- For an optional garnish, brush the tops of the baked buns with melted butter, then sprinkle shredded coconut or sweetened coconut flakes on top.
- Freezing the Baked Buns. While you can freeze the baked buns, the glaze will not be in optimal texture after thawing.
- To make the dough ahead, make the recipe up to the shaping of the buns. Allow the buns to rise overnight in the fridge, covered well. On the baking day, allow the buns to come come to room temperature and continue its rising. Pour the coconut liquid, then bake!
Questions About this Recipe
Pani Popo means coconut buns, which are sweet yeast bread baked in a coconut syrup resulting in soft bread rolls with gooey coconut glaze.
Coconut flour cannot replace all-purpose flour in this recipe. Coconut flour is gluten free- therefore it is tricky to use it in this recipe.
- Milk Bread
- Soft and Buttery Sugar Buns
- Mini Cinnamon Rolls
- Chocolate Walnut Bread
- Chocolate Hazelnut Rolls
Coconut Bread
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water 110-115 F
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup whole milk powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 and 1/2 cups to 3 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour
For the Coconut Liquid
- 3/4 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Combine yeast and warm water in a large bowl. Sprinkle about a teaspoon of the sugar. Let this stand for 5 minutes or until mixture is foamy. Add the coconut milk, melted butter, egg, the remaining sugar, milk powder and salt. Stir everything using a wooden spoon.
- Gradually add 3 and 1/2 cups of flour and continue mixing until incorporated. Add just enough of the remaining flour until a soft, shaggy dough that gathers in the center is formed.Â
- Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10-12 minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic. Place it in a bowl, cover and let rise for 1 hour, until the size is doubled.
- Punch the dough down. Divide into 12 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and arrange in a 9x 13-inch pan that is lightly greased or lined with parchment paper. Let the rolls rise for 45 minutes, covered with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap.
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Brush the tops of the rolls with coconut milk and stir in the powdered sugar to the remaining coconut milk. Pour thesugar-coconut milk mixture to the pan , tilting the pan so that the liquid gets evenly distributed. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.
Notes
- Freezing the Baked Buns. While you can freeze the baked buns, the glaze will not be in optimal texture after thawing.
- To make the dough ahead, make the recipe up to the shaping of the buns. Allow the buns to rise overnight in the fridge, covered well. On the baking day, allow the buns to come come to room temperature and continue its rising. Pour the coconut liquid, then bake!
I wish you could post pictures here so I could show you how close I got my buns to look like yours! They were amazing. We just had them with prime rib one night and it was fantastic. The next morning we made prime rib sliders and it was the bomb.
Definitely going to make these again.
I am so happy they turned out great!
Made these twice same result as May. They are gelatinous on the bottom and they burn on top. I have tried using less coconut milk this time and the result is the same . I have questions it looks like you are cooking these in a cast iron pan and before you have them rise how much space is between the balls of dough in the pan? Also 20 to 25 min In my oven at 350 degrees will always burn the rolls so should I be cooking them at a lower temperature for longer? I I have to take them out of the pan so they’ll cook on the bottom and I’m using a scant amount of coconut milk. I am going to try 1 more time and it it’s the same with further adjustments in going to look at a different adaptation.
I’ve made this recipe a half dozen times as written. Now, I just want to know if you think it’ll be possible to steam these rolls?
Hello! I have not tried steaming them, but maybe you could without the coconut milk?
Hi, please can I replace Cow milk with coconut milk in the process of making the dough .
Sorry, I have not tested this with cow’s milk. 🙂
Hi I made the dough but the size didn’t double. What can i do if it doesn’t raise?
Hello Lai! It could be many things: the dough may not be active or the dough may need more time (it is maybe cold where it is rising). If that is the case, you can let it rise inside the oven. To do it: Turn the oven to 200 F, turn it off and place the dough inside and allow it to rise until doubled in size, 40-90 minutes.