These matcha pineapple buns go perfectly with our Coconut Matcha Latte for your morning breakfast or afternoon snack.
First off, for those who have never had pineapple buns (boluo bao 菠萝包) you may be surprised to learn that there is, in fact no pineapple nor pineapple flavor involved in pineapple buns. The name comes from the cutting pattern in the top crust resembling pineapple skin.
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Pineapple buns are a popular sweet treat in Hong Kong and the Canton region of China. They're often served warm with a big piece of butter but there are countless ways to serve them including using them to make a sandwich with pulled pork. The matcha flavor of these pineapple buns make them great even plane when served warm or with butter or cream cheese spread inside.
This recipe can seem a bit intimidating for those not used to bread baking and can even be a new experience for the bread bakers out there who have never made a milk bread or never used Tangzhong (heated milk and flour) in a bread recipe. With the rise time for the dough included, these buns can take up to about 4 hours in total to complete so start them early in the day if you want them fresh with dinner.
While that could be intimidating, a large batch of these buns could last you a long time. While they'll only last about 4 days in the refrigerator, you can store them for 2 months frozen after you've baked them. From frozen they can easily be heated back up in the oven in about 10-15 minutes and they taste just as good!
For those used to bread baking, you will notice that this dough may be a bit wetter than your used to. Don't panic and add a bunch more flour, it's supposed to be that way. As it goes through it's first rise it will dry out just a bit and you'll be able to handle the dough with un-floured hands on a non-floured surface to roll the dough into balls for the second rise.
Some of you may be asking "What is this Tangzhong you mentioned?". It's really simple to make in just a minute or two. Consisting of flour and whole milk, heated in a sauce pan, you'll end up with a goo almost the consistency of mashed potatoes. This tangzhong will be added to the dough during the initial preparation and will bring the desired consistency into the final product.
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