Favorite Things: Homemade Hawaiian Bread (or Rolls)

I am a huge fan of hawaiian dinner rolls.  My sister-in-law recently gave me this recipe and I've enjoyed making a few batches.  It's a delicious, slightly sweet bread. Very similar to the orginal, though the texture is not the same in my experience.  (Note the recipe variation at the bottom, if you want to give it a try.)

6 c. all purpose flour
3 eggs
1 c. pineapple juice
1 c. water
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. ginger
1 t. vanilla
2 pkgs yeast
1 stick butter or margarine, melted

Beat eggs; add pineapple juice, water, sugar, ginger, vanilla and melted margarine.  Add in 3 cups of flour and stir till well mixed.  Sprinkle in yeast one package at a time and stir till well mixed.  Gradually add the other 3 cups of flour.  Mix well.  Will be a very sticky dough!

Leave in the mixing bowl, cover and rise 1 hour in a warm place.  Remove from bowl onto well-floured surface and knead in 1/2 cup flour -- a bread scraper is a huge help right about here.  Knead about 10 times. Will still be a very sticky dough.

Grease pans for desired loaves or rolls:

• For loaves, you'll need three 8-inch round cake pans. 
• For rolls, this will fill a double-sheet cake pan (or two 9x13 pans and possibly one more small one).

Form dough into round loaves or rolls.  Once again, my bread scraper was a lifesaver here.  I used it to cut the sticky dough into my desired number of pieces.

Cover loaves/rolls and rise 1 hour in a warm place. Bake at 350 degrees, 20-30 minutes for breads and 10-12 minutes for rolls.

Variation to yield a fluffier bread
I just found these alterations to the above recipe online, for those who want a fluffier texture:

Use 1 1/2 cups of pineapple juice and 1/2 cup of water. Heat this mixture to 110 degrees and proof the yeast in it. Mix the eggs, sugar, melted butter, ginger and vanilla together. Put 6 cups of King Arthur Bread Flour into a bowl. Then mix in the egg mixture, then the pineapple juice, water and yeast mixture. After mixing, let rise for 1 1/2 hours. Punch down, knead, divide into 3 loaves. Place each loaf into a greased round cake pan, let rise for another 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 - 25 mins. Brush with melted butter when you take out of oven.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

You can find homegrown zucchini at Country Harvest Greenhouse June through September, and Michigan blueberries in July & August.

Ingredients:
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups white sugar
2 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 pint fresh blueberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans.
In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans.

Bake 50 minutes in preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Best Ever Zucchini Bread

This amazing, tried and true recipe always gets compliments. I've tested many zucchini recipes in my day, but none are as moist and delicious as this. The cinnamon adds a very nice flavor to the bread. This recipe is excellent for freez and gifting!!



3 eggs
1 c. cooking oil
2 c. white sugar
2 c. peeled shredded zucchini
3 t. vanilla
3 c. flour
1 t. salt
1 t. soda
3 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. baking powder

Beat eggs till foamy. Add oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla. Mix lightly but well. Add flour, salt, soda, cinnamon, and baking powder. Mix together and divide batter into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

Notes:

- It also works well with yellow squash instead of zucchini.
- Drain your zucchini some before mixing in, but don't worry about it too much.
- I've subsituted with Splenda for Baking and applesauce instead of all or half the oil and been happy with the results.