Pineapple bun (bolo bao) is an irresistible Hong Kong treat that will keep you coming back for more. It is sweet, buttery, and soft but crisp – a perfect pastry for breakfast, brunch, or afternoon tea. Funnily enough, despite its name, this pineapple bun does not contain any pineapple. I know, so why call it pineapple buns anyway? Well, you are about to find out with this recipe!
What Are Pineapple Buns (Bolo Bao)?
Pineapple bun or bolo bao is a popular pastry in Hong Kong and Chinese bakeries in Chinatown worldwide. Traditionally, this bun is made with buttered dough and a puff pastry. Despite its name, you won’t need pineapple for this recipe.
The only reason why it is called pineapple buns is its pineapple-like crust appearance. After baking the buns, the top crust resembles a pineapple with its checkered golden brown color. The top crust is crunchy, sweet, and buttery, a delightful contrast with the soft and rich center.
Unlike other recipes requiring tangzhong (湯種), a Chinese technique where a mix of flour and water is heated before blending with the dough, my recipe does not anymore. In my recipe, I simply combine all the dough ingredients all at once, knead, and proof. The same goes for the puff pastry ingredients, which are mixed and refrigerated for 10 minutes.
Expert Baking Tips For Pineapple Buns (Bolo Bao)
There is a correct way of making the dough and puff pastry. Although the ingredients are customizable, you should know that not all substitutes may produce the same taste and texture. Before anything else, follow these expert baking tips to make the finest pineapple bun.
Making The Dough
To make the dough for the inner layer, you need water, sugar, high-sugar yeast, salt, high-gluten flour, and butter. The dough is kneaded until smooth and fermented until it doubles its size. The dough is the center of the bun, which is covered in a layer of puff pastry.
- Use high-sugar yeast: High-sugar yeast is ideal for dough with sugar. It helps with the fermentation process since this type of yeast uses sugar as an energy source. The yeast feeds on sugar and converts it into gas to produce light and airy bread. Other types of yeast that you can use are instant yeast or active dry yeast.
- Do not use hot water: Hot water with a temperature between 120°F and 140°F will kill the yeast. So, make sure to use warm water when mixing it with the dough ingredients. If the yeast is killed, the fermentation process will not start and will cause the buns to remain flat.
- Add about 2g of salt: Salt helps bring out the flavors of the dough. If you do not add salt, the bun may taste flat or bland. You can use table salt, kosher salt, or sea salt.
- Use high-gluten flour: The purpose of high-gluten flour is to make the buns chewy and firm. Examples of high-gluten flour are vital wheat gluten flour, bread flour, and 00 flour. If you use low-gluten flour like pastry flour, barley flour, or cake flour, it will make the bun soft instead.
- Incorporate butter in the dough: Butter gives the dough structure and richness. To swap regular butter, you can use dairy-free butter, vegetable oil, margarine, bananas, or coconut oil.
- Knead the dough until smooth: The texture highly depends on how well you knead the dough. You want to get a smooth, bouncy dough texture that does stick to your hands. Kneading is done twice, first when making the big ball of dough, and second after dividing it into smaller portions. If the dough is too wet, add more flour. If the dough is too firm, a bit of water.
- Proof the dough at the right duration and environment:
- After kneading, allow the dough to ferment until it doubles its size. This step can take an hour or more.
- You should also avoid doing this process for too long or too short. The dough will crumble if it is over-proofed, while it will remain flat if it is under-proofed.
- The fermentation process is also affected by its environment, whether it is too cold or too warm. A warm environment speeds up the proofing process, whereas a cold environment slows it down. If the environment is too cold, place the dough in an oven or microwave with a boiled cup of water beside it to speed up the proofing process.
- Check for signs of a properly proofed dough: The appearance and texture of the buns can give you an idea of how well they have been proofed since proofing times vary. Here are some things to keep in mind:
- Size: It should be at least 1.5 or 2 times bigger.
- Aroma: It has a natural wheat scent. It should not smell funny.
- Texture: It is smooth and springy when pressed. It should return to its original shape after lightly pressing the dough.
Assembling The Puff Pastry
The puff pastry is the outer layer of the bun. This is key in creating a golden yellow top crust. It is placed on top of the dough before baking it.
After baking, it should create a checkered, cracked pattern like a pineapple. You will need butter, brown sugar, sugar, egg yolk, low-gluten flour, and baking powder. Here’s what you need to know about each ingredient:
- Butter: Butter helps create a beautiful golden crust when baked. It adds wonderful flavor and aroma to the buns. You can use regular butter or dairy-free butter. If you don’t have butter, use vegetable oil, margarine, bananas, or coconut oil.
- Brown sugar and white sugar: To achieve the best flavor, color, and texture, I combine white sugar and brown sugar. Brown sugar helps create its deep color and caramel flavor, while white sugar adds sweetness and puffiness to the crust. However, you can use either brown or white sugar alone and substitute with the same amount.
- Egg yolk: This recipe calls for egg yolk alone, without the white. The egg yolk’s fat creates an additional rich flavor and velvety texture. It makes the puff pastry puffy and moist.
- Low-gluten flour: For the outer layer, I use low-gluten flour this time. As mentioned, low-gluten flour is ideal to create a soft and crumbly texture. You can use pastry or cake flour, barley flour, spelt flour, rye flour, and all-purpose flour.
- Baking Powder: A crucial ingredient in lightening and expanding the crust is baking powder. It helps add a flaky and soft crust. As it expands, it creates a cracked appearance, which is essential in making its pineapple design. So, make sure not to skip this ingredient to make the pineapple appearance of the bun.
How To Customize Pineapple Buns (Bolo Bao)
One of my favorite things about pineapple buns is that you can enjoy them as is without the need for a filling. However, what better way to customize this bun and make variations than by adding a sweet or savory filling? You can find different variations of pineapple buns served in bakeries.
Here are some examples you can experiment with and see which one you like:
- Buttered pineapple bun with a slice of butter inside
- Pineapple bun with Egg Custard
- Stuffed with Red Bean Paste
- Filled with pineapple filling
- Sandwiched with Char Siu Pork, spam, egg, or cheese
Prepare These Ingredients And Tools
Most of the tools needed are your basic kitchen equipment, such as a mixing bowl, knife, and spatula. For baking needs, prepare an oven, a baking tray with parchment paper, and a rolling pin, among other things. Here’s a complete list of everything you need to prepare:
Kitchen Tools
- Mixing bowls
- Whisk
- Chopsticks
- Kitchen gloves
- Plastic wrap
- Silicone spatula
- Knife or dough cutter
- Baking tray
- Parchment paper
- Rolling pin
- Oil brush
For The Dough
- 150ml of water
- 30g of sugar
- 5g of high sugar tolerance yeast
- 2g of salt
- 230g of high-gluten flour
- 25g of butter
For The Puff Pastry
- 50g of butter
- 10g of brown sugar
- 50g of sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 100g of low-gluten flour
- 2g of baking powder (essential)
- Egg yolk wash (to coat the puff pastry before baking)
- Whole egg, egg yolk, or egg white + a little bit of water or milk
Steps On How To Make Pineapple Buns (Bolo Bao)
The recipe instructions have 4 main parts: knead the dough, make the puff pastry, divide the dough and puff pastry, and assemble them for baking. Follow my steps on Instagram or TikTok. When you are done baking, share them with me and tag @kitchenmisadventures!
In a bowl, whisk water, sugar, yeast, and salt.
Then, mix in high-gluten flour and melted butter.
Knead for 5 minutes and let it double in size for an hour. Cover the bowl with a cling wrap.
Next, make the puff pastry by mixing butter, brown sugar, white sugar, egg yolk, low-gluten flour, and baking powder. You can add the flour and baking powder last after mixing the other ingredients first.
Refrigerate the puff pastry for 10 minutes.
Once the fermented dough increases in size, divide it into 6 parts, shape it into small balls, and let them double in size again. Cover the dough balls again with a cling wrap.
Afterward, divide the puff pastry into 6 portions as well and use a rolling pin to flatten each portion into thin circular sheets. To prevent sticking, you can place plastic wrap both above and below the puff pastry as you roll it out.
When the dough balls increase in size again, cover each dough portion with puff pastry.
Place the assembled buns in the baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Brush each bun with egg yolk wash. Although this can be optional, I highly recommend coating the top crust with egg wash to give you that shiny and beautiful brown crust after baking. Brush the edges and the top with this.
Tips: To make egg yolk wash, mix a whole egg, egg yolk, or egg white with a little bit of water or milk.
Preheat the oven. Bake at 180°C for 16 minutes until golden brown.
Enjoy soft and velvety Pineapple Buns! If you loved this bun recipe, try my other bun recipes, such as beef bao bun, tofu bun, char siu bao, chicken bao bun, and egg custard buns.
Hong Kong Style Pineapple Buns (Bolo Bao)
Equipment
- Mixing bowls
- Whisk
- Chopsticks
- Kitchen gloves
- Plastic wrap
- Silicone spatula
- Knife or dough cutter
- Baking tray
- Parchment paper
- Rolling Pin
- Oil brush
Ingredients
For The Dough
- 150 ml of water
- 30 g of sugar
- 5 g of high sugar tolerance yeast
- 2 g of salt
- 230 g of high-gluten flour
- 25 g of butter
For The Puff Pastry
- 50 g of butter
- 10 g of brown sugar
- 50 g of sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 100 g of low-gluten flour
- 2 g of baking powder essential
- Egg yolk wash to coat the puff pastry before baking
- Whole egg egg yolk, or egg white + a little bit of water or milk
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk water, sugar, yeast, and salt.
- Then, mix in high-gluten flour and melted butter.
- Knead for 5 minutes and let it double in size for an hour. Cover the bowl with a cling wrap.
- Next, make the puff pastry by mixing butter, brown sugar, white sugar, egg yolk, low-gluten flour, and baking powder. You can add the flour and baking powder last after mixing the other ingredients first.
- Refrigerate the puff pastry for 10 minutes.
- Once the fermented dough increases in size, divide it into 6 parts, shape it into small balls, and let them double in size again. Cover the dough balls again with a cling wrap.
- Afterward, divide the puff pastry into 6 portions as well and use a rolling pin to flatten each portion into thin circular sheets. To prevent sticking, you can place plastic wrap both above and below the puff pastry as you roll it out.
- When the dough balls increase in size again, cover each dough portion with puff pastry.
- Place the assembled buns in the baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Brush each bun with egg yolk wash. Although this can be optional, I highly recommend coating the top crust with egg wash to give you that shiny and beautiful brown crust after baking. Brush the edges and the top with this.
- To make egg yolk wash, mix a whole egg, egg yolk, or egg white with a little bit of water or milk.
- Preheat the oven. Bake at 180°C for 16 minutes until golden brown.
Hello! Thanks for sharing this recipe! I recently returned from Hong Kong, where I had these buns everyday for my breakfast. As I missed them so much I decided to make them at home, and your site is the only place where I found a recipe. I and my mom had problems with finding low-glutinous flour here in Russia, but eventually we found it. We also slightly changed proportions of flour and water for the basic dough. On the second try we got just exactly the same taste and texture like I ate in HK! Delightful! I wish I could share some photos with you to show how appetitive they are!😋
Hi Ekaterina,
That sounds amazing! I’m thrilled to hear that you were able to recreate the taste and texture of Pineapple Buns you enjoyed in Hong Kong, even with some adjustments.
If you’re able to share the photos on your social media accounts, I’d love to see them! That would be fantastic.