Copycat King's Hawaiian Bread Recipe | CDKitchen.com (2024)

reviews & comments

1. crym301 REVIEW:
   September 22, 2015

   First off, I am not a professional at making bread but I have some experience with yeast and this recipe seems to be missing a few steps. I did not proof the yeast before mixing and letting rise, the dough hardly rose at all and I let it sit in a slightly warmed oven for 2 hours. This dough is VERY sticky and was difficult to work with without adding a lot more flour. I did bake them last night and they weren't hard little rocks but not near as puffy as shown in the picture and for those posters saying this tastes just like the real thing, no. I thought it tasted like mildly sweet, regular white bread. Very disappointed but will try again because I hate to call it quits when so many people have apparently had excellent results. Definitely needs to be sweeter though.

2. Homemaker73 REVIEW:
   April 13, 2014

   These are so easy to make and are so good!!!!

3. sweetpolly517 REVIEW:
   February 23, 2014

   Needs a pinch of salt, otherwise excellent.

4. tclairestuff REVIEW:
   October 22, 2013

   Definitely follow MRICE2311's comments and this turns out fine. As written it just can't work.

5. davidsdesire REVIEW:
   January 31, 2013

   i used mrice's comments and used 1.5c pineapple juice and 1/2 cup water. i used 5t yeast and proofed it in the juice and water. the dough was sticky but i just added a bit more flour than the 6 cups. Next time i would add 2 t salt. it rose nicely and the texture was very nice and light. I would also brush melted butter over the top before baking next time.it is a keeper recipe for me.

6. maggie November 1, 2012

   I am making this bread today and would like to know how to do rolls instead of a round cake. Do you use muffin tins, or rolls in a round pan, or something else? Do you go freeform on parchment paper? thanks so much!

7. DJ December 13, 2011

   A lot of people say that they used instant yeast. When you use instant yeast there is no need to "proof" the yeast. Instant yeast can be added to the mixing bowl with everything else. Active dry yeast is the type you would need to "proof" first. Just thought I'd clear that up.

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8. imom REVIEW:
   April 3, 2011

   HELP me please! i have read all the reviews and made this today for the 2d time. It tastes perfect but just doesn't puff way up in the round cake pan. I am a baker and work with breads, the dough was so sticky I could NOT do the 2d knead and did it in my kitchenaid. IS it supposed to be this sticky? does anyone get it to puff up like the Kings H bread? I have followed it exactly and because i bake warmed all the ingredients . I put the eggs in warm water to bring them to room temp.I melted the butter and it certainly all rose. What might I be doing wrong? i love this brad but they don't sell it in MA that I know of.

9. Guest Foodie REVIEW:
   March 13, 2010

   Came out great although I only yielded 2 loaves. I did proof the yeast first as suggested in warmed pineapple juice and water. The dough rose wonderfully but I let it rise for at least 2 hours the first time and at least 1 hour the second time. I used 1 1/4 cup juice and a little extra sugar and it still didn't come out as sweet as would have liked it. It would also be nice to have some time of wash for the top of the loaf. All in all, this was a yummy bread and I'd bake it again.

10. Innemeth REVIEW:
    September 19, 2009

    As the recipe is written... It is a good starting block, but very lacking in the finer miute details.I increased the pinaple juice as others here did and cut back the water accordinly.... On the pineapple juice... I used a can of crushed pineapple and extracted the juice from that.... I also added about 1/3 cup crushed pineapple... I also increased the ginger by a pinch and added a pinch of salt... I started with half the flour in My kitchen aid mixer and in a pot on the stove combined the sugar, salt, butter crushed pineapple and pine apple juice and heated till the butter was just almost melted... While that was going on I activated the yeast in the water with a lil sugar.... I beat the eggs seperately.... Okay... butter and juice mixture heated and yeast activated..... I added that to the flour, then added the eggs...Plain old bread flour is fine. At this point it looks like cake batter... (on the mixer I started out with the cake batter paddle....) Switching to the dough hook I started adding the rest of the flour until I had a fairly sticky dough... At that point I moved it to the counter and needed in about 1/2 cup mor flour.... Okay ready to rise... Here I transfered the whole thing to a greased bowl as normal... and placed it in my oven with the light on and a pan of hot water beneath it... DO NOT cover the dough.... way to sticky for that... I let it rise one full hour... punched it down and let it rise a second time ... Again one full hour... then punched it down and took it to the counter to work... I made half into rolls and the other half into a large loaf .... Both baked at 350 degrees for 28 minutes and .... wa la!!!!!!! Yup dang near perfect...:) I do recommed highly FRESH pineapple juice and fresh Ginger .... Good luck :)

11. mrice2311 REVIEW:
    April 3, 2009

    Please do not attempt to make this recipe as is. I made this with modifications and it came out awesome! First I recommend using 1 1/2 cups of pineapple juice and 1/2 cup of water. Also, heat this mixture to 110 degrees and proof the yeast in it (a must). I mixed the eggs, sugar, melted butter, ginger and vanilla together. I 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. Enjoy!

12. sabrel REVIEW:
    November 16, 2008

    I made this recipe to preview it for Thanksgiving. I too proofed my yeast and used rapid rise instead of packets. I also always use my eggs and butter at room temp and heated all of my liquids. I used 1 1/4 cups pineapple and 3/4 cups water. The other thing that has not been previously mentioned is that I did 3 rises for a fluffier texture. I did 2 rises for an hour each in my oven with the light on in the bowl, punching down between each. For the last rise I punched and kneaded a few times and formed my rolls and then did a final rise for about 45 minutes, then baked them off. They turned out fluffy and just like the store bought.

13. Jess REVIEW:
    July 23, 2008

    I followed everyone's advice and proofed the yeast first. However, this loaf did not taste like Hawaiian Bread. It tasted like good, dense, white bread.

14. ChefMe REVIEW:
    June 21, 2008

    This turned out excellent. I did vary it a little bit. Instead of margarine I used butter and I also used bread flour. I mixed this together before I read the reviews but I didn't have any problem with the mixture rising. I have a stove on my back porch that I use for baking in the summer and I put the dough on there to rise, which it did in 45 minutes because it was very warm outside. Instead of making three loaves I only made two and they rose very nicely and baked up beautifully. Even though I had very good luck this time with the dough, the next time I make it I will heat the pineapple juice and water and then add the yeast and add all of the flour at the end. I also used my Kitchen Aid mixer to mix it all up and it was very difficult for some reason to get all of the flour up from the bottom. The bread was delicious and disappeared in no time. I will be making this often for different functions.

15. vjkahler February 16, 2008

    I add my voice to those who advise proofing the yeast first-you must do this. Also, breads with a high sugar content take forever to rise; 3 hours for the first rise and 2 for the second is not uncommon in my experience. I also use 3 pks of yeast instead of the 2 called for in the recipe. Also, the dough is very sticky, but you must add as little flour as possible when kneading, or the bread just crumbles. I also suggest making 3 loaves using 8-in. cake pans instead of 2. I also used 1-3/4 cups sugar. It is denser than King's Hawaiian, but that is all to the good. It's fantastic toasted and buttered or hot from the oven.

16. breadbaker REVIEW:
    January 1, 2008

    I admit to deviating a bit(butter, slightly more pineapple juice(and it was fresh) and I proofed the yeast) the only positive was the rise - taste, texture, sweetness were pretty awful, nothing like the real thing. My husband said "This is NOT a do-over!"

17. Lori Trowbridge REVIEW:
    November 21, 2007

    Okay I initially made the recipe per instructions, and I was very disappointed. I ended up adding 2 more cups of flour to the recipe because it was entirely too wet and would have been hard and heavy (just as others have said theirs turned out). Well, I came back to rate it to warn people, and only then noticed the ratings posted when you scroll down. It appears many others either loved it or hated it, and I see there were some steps omitted in the recipe. Nowhere does it say anything about proofing the yeast or heating the yeast in the liquid ingredients, and that is unfortunate. I have been baking a long time and am offended that you could leave a step as important as this out in the preparation. Just because I don't bake breads I feel as though I was cheated on this recipe. I will MAYBE retry and re-rate it.

18. Leggomycoffee REVIEW:
    September 28, 2007

    Fabulous! Just like the real thing. I did deviate from the recipe a bit.* I used butter instead of margarine* I used 1 1/4 cups pineapple juice and 3/4 cups water* I used bread flourI proofed the yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons of Saf Instant Yeast) in the warmed water/pineapple juice mixture.While that was proofing I mixed everything else except the flour in another bowl.In a big bowl I put all 6 cups of bread flour. After the yeast was ready, I poured in the egg mixture followed by the yeast mixture and mixed away. It came together beautifully into a fabulous dough. I followed the recipe instructions after that, although the dough didn't need the whole 1/2 cup of flour kneaded into it - it probably took on about a 1/4 cup. Wonderful!!!

19. Guest Foodie REVIEW:
    August 13, 2007

    This really does taste like the real thing. I first tried following the directions exactly and put the dough in a the oven on very low heat to rise some, but it didnt much. The bread came out very thick like a biscut. The second time I made sure I activated the yeast completely and it came out beautiful. Thanks, I hope someone will post how to put coconut milk in.

20. Maree REVIEW:
    August 1, 2007

    Very good recipe but lacked something to make it like King's. I proofed the yeast in the water and pineapple juice and had no trouble with it. Dough is very "wet" and sticky but rises and cooks well. Plan to make again but will add coconut to see if that is the missing something.

21. BakerMan April 24, 2007

    I cannot agree more with the need to proof your yeast. It's surprising how many recipes don't call for it. I proofed the yeast, added dry, then wet, as stated above, and it turned out great. I'm no pro, but there are times that I think bread just doesn't turn out correctly by adding yeast to the dry ingredients, even if the yeast is good.

22. ohsandy REVIEW:
    April 17, 2007

    I followed this recipe exactly. It did not rise, it came out chewy and dense and not sweet. It certainly is not a copy of King's hawaiian bread. I was very dissappointed.

23. teri3476 REVIEW:
    April 11, 2007

    I tried this recipe the other day, and I found it to be very easy to make, and it really turned out good! Very nice light bread with just a hint of sweetness. Thanks for a recipe I'll use again and again!

24. ME REVIEW:
    January 3, 2007

    Heated water & pineapple juice to 125 degreea--added yeast, then dry ingredients-then wet ingredients--as you would with any yeast bread recipe--turned out awesome--just like the name brand!

25. lovetocook REVIEW:
    April 10, 2006

    i made this bread and it was great. i heated my water and pineapple juice to 110 degrees then added everything else.

26. Rossana February 17, 2006

    I am going to try this recipe today and will post my comments then. This is a suggestion for the previous reviewer. As you may already know, it is best to proof the yeast even if the recipe does not call for it. Too many factors contruibute to the "vitality" of the yeast to rely simply on the expiration date on the package. Just use a little amount of warm water (or milk, or whatever liquid the recipe calls for) and a pinch of sugar and mix it with the yeast. Let it stand for a few minutes. If it bubbles....it's alive!!!

27. Ann60 REVIEW:
    February 13, 2006

    I made this recipe to take to a brunch I was invited to. I make yeast breads all the time - so I thought I knew what I was doing! Unfortunately I had disastrous results with this recipe. The dough was too soft, didn't rise and wasn't as sweet as I anticipated. I checked my yeast expiration date (it was still good for 8 more months). I'm not sure I would attempt it again.