Pandan Coconut Sweet Rolls with Dried Cranberries

I made these Pandan Coconut Sweet Rolls with Dried Cranberries recently as an attempt to recapture the taste of a favorite childhood bread. Pandan and coconut is a classic pairing and a much loved flavor among Malaysians and Singaporeans. The Pandan Coconut bread typically contains a scattered amount of dark and golden raisins but I used sweetened dried cranberries because that is what I have and I love cranberries! The bread rolls turned out oh so soft and fluffy and delicious! I used my own homegrown pandan leaves but apparently, I didn’t use enough to obtain the natural green color I desired. I will try again next time but for now, I am going to savor every bite of my sweet rolls and indulge in nostalgic memories. ❤️

I would like to give credit to Mykitchen101en for the original recipe. I am so appreciative of those who share their knowledge so the rest of us can recreate something we miss dearly. I did alter the recipe a bit and I have rewritten the instructions to my preference. Happy Baking!

Making the tangzhong or water roux:
6 pandan leaves (12g)
150 g water (plus a little more if needed)
30 g all-purpose flour (I used SFM Heritage White Flour)

Blend pandan leaves with water (and more if needed). Then, strain mixture to obtain 150 g pandan juice.

Mix pandan juice and all-purpose flour in a small saucepan, stir mixture until there are no lumps. Cook on medium heat, stir continuously until mixture is almost all cooked (this will only take a few minutes). Turn off heat and continue to stir for about 10-20 seconds, until mixture is thick and gelatinous (see photo). Place mixture in bread machine pan and cool completely.

Making the dough:
1 large egg (50g)
140g coconut milk (if egg weighs more, reduce coconut milk*)
470g bread flour (I used SFM Heritage Bread Blend)
70g sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 tsp instant yeast (I used SAF Gold Instant Yeast)
40g salted butter, softened
1 cup dried cranberries**
More butter

*The combined weight of the egg and coconut milk should equal 190g.
**My cranberries were older and on the drier side, so I attempted to rehydrate them by combining the cranberries with 1/2 cup water and microwaving the mixture for 30 seconds. Then, I let the cranberries steeped in the warm water for 10 minutes. Finally, I strained the cranberries to remove the water and set them aside until needed.

Once pandan mixture has cooled, add egg, coconut milk, bread flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and 40g butter. Close the bread machine lid and use the dough function to start the kneading cycle. In the last 10 minutes of the kneading cycle, add the cranberries to the dough so they can be incorporated. Once the full dough function has completed (in my bread machine, that includes 30 minutes of kneading and 60 minutes of rising time), remove dough from the bread machine. Gently punch down to deflate the dough and divide it into 15 equal pieces (I basically just eyeballed it).

Shape dough into smooth balls and place them in a 9” x 13” buttered baking dish. Cover and let rise in a slightly warm spot until doubled in size (about 50 minutes). In the meantime, preheat oven to 350F. Once dough has doubled in size, brush some melted butter on top of the dough and bake rolls for about 25 minutes.

Remove baking dish from oven and place on cooling rack to cool completely. Brush rolls with more melted butter while they are still hot, which will give them a softer crust and richer flavor. Enjoy!