Pani Popo

Pani Popo, or coconut buns, are prepared with yeast bread and sweetened coconut milk and are native to Samoa. Many people compare it to glazed doughnuts, and with a few simple changes, such as replacing the butter with grapeseed or coconut oil, you can produce a wonderful dairy-free treat, while adding coconut flour makes it gluten-free. No matter what dietary constraints you have, this dish is incredibly easy to adapt.

Ingredients:

1 (12 ounces) package of frozen dinner rolls dough, thawed; 15 ounces water, divided; 1 (14 ounces) can of coconut milk; 1 cup sugar; 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Instruction:

1. Arrange rolls in a 9x13-inch baking dish, cover the dish with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
2. Combine 14 ounces of water, coconut milk, and sugar in a saucepan. Whisk the remaining water and cornstarch together in a small bowl. Bring coconut milk mixture to a boil, whisk in cornstarch mixture, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens, about 3 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Remove plastic wrap from rolls.
4. Bake rolls in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Pour coconut sauce over rolls until at least half of each roll is covered in sauce. Return rolls to oven; continue baking until rolls are golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes more. Cool in the baking dish, for 3 to 5 minutes, before serving warm.