Super Soft Dinner Rolls with Coconut Milk

These coconut milk bread dinner rolls are incredibly soft and fluffy! Made with just six simple ingredients, including rich and creamy coconut milk, giving them a subtle hint of coconut flavor. They’re well worth the time and effort, adding a delicious touch to any meal. But honestly though, my toddler loves them as snacks!

Have you ever made my milk bread recipe? These dinner rolls are just as fluffy and milky, but they’re made with coconut milk instead of cow milk. This recipe can also be formed into a coconut milk bread loaf too if you don’t want to make dinner rolls! 

Not to be confused with my Pani Popo – which are dinner rolls baked in a pool of yummy coconut sauce, delicious in their own rights – these dinner rolls have coconut milk incorporated into the bread dough itself. 

Key ingredients for coconut bread

Skip ahead to the recipe card for the full list of ingredients with quantities as well as detailed instructions with step-by-step photos. Below are some notes and substitution tips for the key ingredients.

• Flour – you can use bread flour to make bread but I typically use all-purpose flour to make things simple and approachable to everyone. And honestly, AP flour works just fine for all of my bread recipes.  
• Coconut milk – I used canned coconut milk. This is richer and creamier than coconut milk from the carton. Canned coconut milk is thicker so if you make any liquid substitution, the ratio of flour to liquid will need to be adjusted.
• Butter – I added unsalted butter to the recipe to get a richer flavor and more tender crumbs. 
• Egg – not pictured here but I used an egg for egg wash only – this is not used in the bread dough. Egg wash gives these rolls a beautiful shiny golden brown crust. You can omit the egg wash and use extra coconut milk as a wash instead to keep this recipe egg free. Your rolls will still brown but they won’t be shiny. 

Tips to make dairy free coconut milk bread

If you want to keep this bread dairy free, you’ll need to swap out the butter. 

OPTION 1 is to use more coconut milk. Your dinner rolls will end up with more coconut flavor but also a bit on the dryer side and won’t be as rich and tender. This is still very good but they won’t stay soft for as long as the enriched version.

OPTION 2 is to use oil instead of butter, like in challah bread. Oil will keep your coconut bread richer and more tender but still dairy free. 

Serving suggestions

Serve these coconut milk bread dinner rolls as a side with your meal, slathered in honey butter, make ham and cheese sliders with them, save leftovers for bread pudding or french toast casserole.

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📖 Recipe card

Coconut Milk Bread Recipe

These coconut milk bread dinner rolls are incredibly soft and fluffy! Made with just six simple ingredients, including rich and creamy coconut milk, giving them a subtle hint of coconut flavor. They’re well worth the time and effort, adding a delicious touch to any meal.

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 22 minutes minutes

Rising Time: 3 hours hours

Total Time: 3 hours hours 52 minutes minutes

Yield: 15 dinner rolls

Author: Trang

Equipment

• Stand Mixer
• Thermometer
• Saucepan
• 9"x13" Baking Pan

Ingredients

Bread with coconut milk

• ▢ 1 ¼ cup canned coconut milk (289 g)
• ▢ 3 tablespoon granulated sugar (39 g)
• ▢ 3 oz unsalted butter (cut into thin pats, 85 g)
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoon active dry yeast (or instant yeast, 5 g)
• ▢ 3 cup all-purpose flour (407 g)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Morton kosher salt
• ▢ Extra butter for pan

Egg wash

• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 1 tablespoon of water

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Instructions

• Prepare the liquid mixture – Add coconut milk and granulated sugar to a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar. Take it off the heat and add unsalted butter to the hot liquid, stir until the butter melts completely. Allow the mixture to cool down to below 110°F. Check with a thermometer if you have one. If not, just make sure the liquid is warm to the touch and not hot before adding the yeast.
  1 ¼ cup canned coconut milk, 3 tablespoon granulated sugar, 3 oz unsalted butter
  
• Bloom the yeast – Sprinkle active dry yeast or instant yeast over the top of the liquid mixture, stir and let it bloom for about 10 minutes. You should see bubbles or the mixture should visibly puff up.
  1 ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
  
• Knead the dough – In your stand mixer bowl, add flour and stir in the salt. Add the liquid mixture with the yeast and knead with the dough hook on medium-low speed for about 10 minutes. The dough should form a big mass and come away from the side of the bowl.
  3 cup all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon Morton kosher salt
  
• First rise – Scrape the dough out of the bowl and form it into a smooth ball on a clean countertop. Then place it back into the bowl. Cover with plastic or a kitchen towel, and allow it to rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1-2 hours. I like letting the dough rise inside my oven with the light turned on to keep it warm. Just make sure you don’t accidentally turn the oven on.
  
• Prepare your baking pan – Melt a tablespoon of butter and brush it all over your baking dish and set aside.
  Extra butter for pan
• Divide the dough – When the dough is ready, dump it out onto a lightly floured countertop and divide it into 15 equal portions. You can eyeball this step or use a scale to be exact, each roll will be about 53 grams.
  
• Form the rolls and second rise – Shape each portion into a round bun and place them into the buttered 9”x13” baking dish, cover with plastic, and allow them to rise in a warm spot until doubled in size and puffy, about 1-2 hours. Again, you can place your baking dish inside your oven with the light turned on.
  
• Preheat the oven – Adjust your oven rack to the middle position if not already there and preheat to 400°F. Make sure you remove the buns from the oven if you were proofing them in there before turning it on.
• Add egg wash – Beat an egg with a tablespoon of water to make egg wash. Brush egg wash generously on top of the rolls and as much of the sides as you can.
  1 large egg, 1 tablespoon of water
  
• Bake and serve – Bake for 20 – 22 minutes until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow the rolls to cool on a wire rack until warm to the touch before serving. It’s tempting to tear into them right out of the oven, but you need to let the bread rest and finish baking from the residual heat or you’ll find them to be a bit wet and mushy inside.
  

Notes

• Make it dairy free: omit the butter and add 3 oz of coconut milk instead to make these rolls completely dairy free. You can also use 3 oz of coconut oil or another oil of your choosing to keep the bread richer and more tender.
• Keep it egg free: skip the egg wash and use a bit of extra coconut milk to brush on top of the rolls. They will brown just fine but just won’t be super shiny and golden.
• Storage: store your coconut milk bread covered at room temp for 2-3 days. For longer storage, you can keep them in the fridge for up to a week or freeze them for up to 3 months.
• Reheating cold rolls: I recommend warming refrigerated or frozen rolls in the oven at low temperature, 275°F-300°F, for 5-10 minutes, until they are warm and soft in the middle and toasty on the outside.

Nutrition

Serving: 53g | Calories: 180kcal

Course: Bread, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

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