What is it about King’s Hawaiian Rolls that are just so delicious? Is it the super soft texture or the melt in your mouth flavor? I don’t know what it is exactly, but I do know they are absolutely delicious! Everyone in my family loves these, but I typically only buy them around Thanksgiving. The rest of the year we just “make do” with biscuits or plain ole rolls. 🙂
I recently ran across a recipe for homemade King’s Hawaiian Rolls and I thought, why not try making them on my own. The worst that could happen is that I realize there is no copying a good thing so I might as well suck up the cost of these rolls.
I am happy to report, however, these turned out SO good! I think you are going to be pleasantly surprised at how close these are to the real thing. These are very easy to put together, all you need is a little time to allow the dough to rise.
Ingredients:
These are items that you most likely have on hand already. Yah!
- Warm water
- Granulated sugar
- 1 pkg yeast
- oil
- salt
- flour
That’s it! I know these ingredients don’t seem like much, but they are all you need to make this delicious King’s Hawaiian rolls recipe.
Directions:
1. Mix together water, sugar and yeast. Let stand about 10 minutes, or until yeast begins to activate (small bubbles will form).
2. In a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, slowly add in oil, salt and flour. Mix until well incorporate and then continue to knead for about 2-3 minutes.
3. Oil a glass bowl. Remove dough from mixer bowl and place in glass bowl, turning to coat with oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise for about an hour or until doubled in size.
4. Spray an 8″ x 8″ glass dish with cooking spray. Divide the risen dough into 9 similarly sized balls. Arrange in the prepared dish, leaving some space around each ball to allow for rising. Cover tightly and let rise about 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.
5. Once risen again, bake rolls in 350F oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown on top. Remove from oven and immediately butter the top of each roll. Enjoy these warm!
I like them best out of the oven, but they really do heat up well. My kids gobbled them up.
Save 75% by making your own!
I can typically find a package of King’s Hawaiian Rolls for about $3 at my local store. With this recipe you get 9 generously sized rolls. The biggest thing you need for this recipe is 3 cups of flour. There are about 20 cups of flour in a 5 lb. bag. I can usually pick up a bag of flour from Aldi for $1.29, so that means I’ll only use $0.20 worth of flour for this recipe. The rest of the ingredients are negligible.
The only thing you might have to buy is yeast. You can find a 3-pack of yeast packets for about $1.50. You only need one for this recipe, so the yeast will cost you about $0.50. We only need a small amount of the other ingredients, so this king’s hawaiian roll recipe will cost you under $1! That is a huge savings!

This kings hawaiian rolls recipe is easy to make and they actually taste like the real kings hawaiian rolls.
- 1 cup warm water
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 packet active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups flour
-
Mix together water, sugar and yeast. Let stand about 10 minutes, or until yeast begins to activate (small bubbles will form).
-
In a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, slowly add in oil, salt and flour. Mix until well incorporated and then continue to knead for about 2-3 minutes.
-
Oil a glass bowl. Remove dough from mixer bowl and place in the glass bowl, turning to coat with oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise for about an hour or until doubled in size.
-
Spray an 8" x 8" glass dish with cooking spray. Divide the risen dough into 9 similarly sized balls. Arrange in the prepared dish, leaving some space around each ball to allow for rising. Cover tightly and let rise about 30 minutes.
-
Once risen again, bake rolls in 350F oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown on top. Remove from oven and immediately butter the top of each roll.
You are going to be pleasantly surprised at how close these are to the real thing. These are very easy to put together, all you need is a little time to allow the dough to rise.
Make sure you try some of our other delicious CopyCat recipes:
- CopyCat Panera Bread Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
- Copycat Fritos Bean Dip Recipe
- CopyCat KFC Chicken Pot Pie
- CopyCat Chick-Fil-A Lemonade Recipe
Michelle says
Can these rolls be made without a stand mixer with dough attachment?
Kay says
Recipe sounds sooo good…We love King’s Hawaiian Rolls!! Can these be made in a bread machine using the recipe “as is?”
Brenda says
These tasted wonderful!! My dough was very sticky so it was hard dividing the dough. Was yours sticky?
Carrie says
It is a little sticky – just add a tad more flour if you need to do make it more easy to manage.
Carrie says
Yes, they could. You would just need to do more kneading.
Cathy says
has anyone tried this with gluten free flour?
Kevin says
Made these rolld for Thanksgiving and they turned out perfect. The only thing I would change is add a tiny bit more sugar. I could not stop eating them, so good
Jessica says
Hi! Can this dough be made ahead of time and frozen for later? If so, at what part would I freeze them (before rising the second time, for example?)
Thanks!
Carrie says
Yes, Jessica, these can be frozen. I would freeze them after you knead the rolls and formed them into balls. Then we you bring them out to defrost them allow them to rise at that time. Thank you!