Pan Manju (Hawaii Style Japanese Baked Pastry)
Make Japanese baked manju in one pan in this easy local Hawaii style recipe. Use any filling you like - red bean paste, Okinawan sweet potato, or more.
Ingredients
- 1 lb room temperature unsalted butter (454 g) 4 sticks
- 2 cups sugar (200 g)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 cup evaporated milk (180 mL) see notes
- 5 cups all purpose flour (625 g)
- 1 egg, beaten
- 3 cups filling of choice (around 330 g) see notes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease and line a 9x13" metal baking pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, add butter, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Cream with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add evaporated milk and flour. Mix until a dough forms.
- Split dough into two halves. Press half the dough into your prepared baking pan so it covers the entire bottom of the pan.
- Add filling on top of dough and gently spread with your hands.
- On a large piece of plastic wrap, flatten out the remaining half of the dough into roughly a 9x13" rectangle. Transfer the flattened dough to your baking pan on top of your filling.
- Brush the top with the beaten egg (you may not need the entire amount) and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until top is golden brown and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let manju cool before slicing into rectangles. Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for several days.
Notes
- This recipe can be halved for a 9x9" metal baking pan.
- You can substitute whole milk for the evaporated milk if you'd like. You can also substitute sweetened condensed milk for a more crumbly crust (similar to pie crust) and a deeper brown color.
- The most common filling is probably red bean paste, which you can make from scratch or buy premade. You can also use mashed Okinawan sweet potato. If you use another filling, make sure it is fairly dry otherwise your crust will get soggy.