Coconut Buns | Pani Popo Eggless Recipe

Coconut Buns | Eggless Pani Popo

Ingredients Needed:

For the Buns:

All purpose flour / Maida - 3 1/2 cups
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Milk powder - 1/4 cup
Active Dry Yeast - 2 1/4 tsp
Lukewarm water - 3/4 cup
Egg Replacer - 2 tbsp whisked in 6 tbsp water (instead of 2 large eggs)
Unsalted Butter - 2 tbsp, softened
Salt - 1 1/4 tsp
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

For the Coconut Syrup:

Thick Coconut Milk / Coconut Powder - 1 cup (use 1 cup Water if using coconut powder)
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Corn Flour - 1 1/2 tsp
Salt - a pinch

How to make Coconut Buns

Make the Dough for Buns: 

Combine all the ingredients for the bun in a large bowl. Mix and knead until everything comes together into a smooth dough, about 5-7 minutes. Dough should be soft and pliable.

Place the dough in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Grease a 9"x13" cake pan. Set aside.

After the first rise, gently punch the dough and divide into 12 equal pieces.

Shape each piece into a rough ball by pulling the dough into a very small knot at the bottom. Roll into a smooth ball and evenly place them in the greased pan.

Cover loosely with a lid and let rise for 45-60 minutes.

About halfway through the rising, preheat the oven to 350°F / 170 C

Make the Coconut Sauce: 

Last 20 minutes of rising, make the sauce. Combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk well to combine and cook for 5-7 minutes until sauce thickens.

Make Pani Popo:

After the buns have risen, pour the sauce evenly over them and bake for 18-25 minutes until the tops are golden brown. I baked mine for nearly 30 minutes, while pavani said hers took only 22 mins.

Cool in the pan and serve them warm from right out of the pan. If you want to save them for later, then invert them onto a cooling rack, store in an airtight container for up to 2-3 days.

Notes:

Mine didn't turn brown or golden on top, so brushed with milk and butter. Still they didn't turn as I saw in Pavani's or the Original recipe.

The buns are soft and dense, they turned fluffy after cooling down. However all the buns were almost done by the time this happened.

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