🍍 Pineapple bun
The pineapple bun (bolo bao) is a soft, sweet Hong Kong bun topped with a crackly golden crust made from sugar, butter, egg and flour. Despite the name it contains no pineapple — the cracked, checkered top is said to look like pineapple skin. It is eaten warm for breakfast or afternoon tea, often split and filled with a thick slice of cold butter.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- Bun: 300 g bread flour, 5 g dried yeast, 40 g sugar, 1 egg, 120 ml water, 30 g soft butter, 3 g salt
- Topping: 80 g plain flour, 50 g sugar, 40 g soft butter, 1 egg yolk
- 1 beaten egg for glazing
Method
- Knead the bun ingredients into a smooth, elastic dough and let it rise for 1 hour until doubled.
- Divide into 8 balls, place on a tray and let rise again for 40 minutes.
- Mix the topping ingredients into a soft dough, divide into 8 and flatten each into a thin disc.
- Lay a disc over each bun, brush with beaten egg and score a criss-cross pattern.
- Bake at 190 °C for 15–18 minutes until golden and cracked.
How to make it lighter
- Skip the slab of butter inside (bolo yau) — that alone adds a lot.
- Share a bun or have a half alongside unsweetened tea.
- Treat it as a sweet snack, not a breakfast replacement.
History
Pineapple buns are a fixture of Hong Kong bakeries and cha chaan teng (tea cafés), and are commonly said to date from the mid-20th century. In 2014 they were included in Hong Kong's inventory of intangible cultural heritage.
Count it in one photo
Point your camera at the table — Me Nutrition recognises Pineapple bun and every other dish, with calories and macros for each. Ate only half? Slide it.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →