Pani Popo

Ingredients:

1 dozen Rhodes frozen dinner rolls

1 13-ounce can coconut milk

1 cup sugar

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

After seeing a TikTok video about Pani Popo, I decided to make some at home. Pani Popo is a Samoan dish. Pani translates to "bun" and pop means "coconut." It's a slightly sweet bread that was easy to make.

I had never used Rhodes rolls before, so it was a first for me to let the frozen rolls rise. You can also make your own rolls if you are feeling ambitious, but the Rhodes rolls seemed like an easy shortcut. Depending on the size of the pan and rolls, you may need to adjust. I put a dozen rolls into a parchment-covered cake pan, lightly covered with plastic wrap sprayed with a little Pam cooking spray to prevent sticking and let them rise for about five hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 and while it preheats, add your coconut milk and sugar to a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Pour over the rolls, reserving about a quarter of the mixture. Bake for about 20-30 minutes. After removing from oven, pour over remaining liquid.

The result is a fluffy roll that has a gooey icing on the bottom. It's light and melts in your mouth. It's got a bit of sweetness without being over the top. I also came up with some variations in my head that I think would be delicious - adding cinnamon would make it similar to a cinnamon roll. Chocolate chips would also be a delicious addition. And since I love coconut, I would love to try them again and add some shredded coconut to the top (perhaps at the end of baking to let it brown a little or simply sprinkled on tp after removing from the oven.)