Coconut Buns

Delicious fluffy and soft buns that will remind you of Hawaiian bread 
Source: Adapted from Pani Popo form Roxana's Home Baking

Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 2 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (can use instant yeast)
- 2 tbsp lukewarm water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp grapeseed oil (can use canola or coconut oil too)
- 1 can / 400 ml coconut milk (you might not need to use all of it)
- 1/3 cup sugar
Total: 8 buns

Directions:
1. Fill a small bowl with 2 tbsp lukewarm water and let rest for 5 minutes until bubbles appear and the yeast starts dissolving.
2. Combine the sugar with the coconut milk and stir until incorporated.
3. Sift the flour and the salt into a bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook, pour in the water with the yeast and start mixing, slowly adding coconut milk until the dough comes clean from the sides of the bowl. I used slightly less than 1/2 can, about 190 ml.
4. Transfer the dough into a greased bowl, cover with wet towel or wet paper towel and let rest at room temperature until doubles in size. In my case in a warm kitchen it took about 1 hour.
5. Divide the dough into 8 balls and place in a greased 9x13'' baking pan. Cover again with and let rest until double in volume (another 30-40 minutes).
6. In the meantime preheat the oven to 375F.
7. Pour the remaining coconut milk over the buns. You don't need to use all of it. I did and the buns turned a little too soggy at the bottom. Next time I will use 1/2 of the remaining coconut milk, about 100 ml or 1/4 can. You can also sprinkle raw sugar on top of the buns.
8. Bake for 40 minutes or until the buns are golden brown and the coconut milk is absorbed.
9. Server warm or cold.

Afterthoughts:
- These buns are super soft and fluffy. They are really great with butter and jam for breakfast.
- I followed the original recipe and poured all the remaining coconut milk over the buns, it was more than 1/2 a can, and it took very long for the milk to evaporate. Even though the buns were quite baked after 40 minutes, I had to keep them in the oven for another 30 minutes, until the milk was almost gone. I had to cover the top with parchment (so that it does not brown too much and burn) and decrease the temperature. And then eventually the buns were slightly soggy at the bottom. They tasted great, but I do not feel very comfortable eating soggy buns, so next time I will simply use less coconut milk. And I am sure I can find creative ways to use the remaining sweetened coconut milk (as a coffee creamer? or in a milkshake?)