Coconut Bun

Though we hail from the land of coconuts, Kerala, I had never tasted coconut buns while growing up. But at the 99 RanchChinese Super market that we go to, they have these tasty buns at their Deli - and all of us like having it whenever we are there. So I had been searching for good recipes to re-create this. But I couldn't find one single recipe that would make it the way I thought these were made. So I experimented combining  some of the elements from a few of  these recipes to come up with a recipe of my own. It really worked and I could re-create almost the same or per my two tasters, even better coconut buns than what we were getting from the 99 Ranch Deli.
Major recipe source:Jun-Blog

Ingredients for the dough:
 All-purpose flour-3-1/2 cups
 Milk-1/2 cup
 Melted unsalted butter-1/2 cup
 Eggs-2
 Sugar-1/3 cup
 Salt-1 tsp
 Instant yeast-2 tsp or 1 pack

 Lukewarm water-1/4 cup

 Sugar-1 tsp

Ingredients for the filling:

 Coconut flakes-1 cup

 Melted salted butter-3 tbs

 Honey or brown sugar-5 tbs

 Egg yolk-1 

For the egg wash
1 egg
1 Tbs water

Ingredients for the topping:
 Egg white-1 Water-1 tbs
 Flour-3 tbs
 Sugar-2 tbs
 Butter, soft-2 tbs
 Coconut flakes-2 tbs

Method:
Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water along with 1 tsp sugar and let  it stand for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile whisk together the flour, sugar and salt.  Add  milk, melted butter, eggs, and the proofed yeast and combine well to form a dough.Dusted with flour if necessary ,  knead the mixture into a smooth elastic dough.

Let the dough rest in a bowl greased lightly with canola oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for about an hour or until the size doubles.  While the dough is rising, make the coconut filling
In a small bowl, mix the coconut flakes, melted butter, honey, and egg yolk until it has a paste-like consistency.
After an hour Punch down risen dough, knead lightly and cut into equal pieces this gives around 12 pieces. Form each piece into a ball.Taking one piece of dough at a time, roll each piece into a 3-inch circle or a rectangle; place a heaping tablespoon of the filling in the centre,Bring the sides up over the filling and pinch all the edges to seal. Make sure the edges are adequately sealed to prevent the coconut filling from spilling out while the buns are baking.Let the buns rise for another 20 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.To make the topping  add the flour, butter, sugar and coconut. Using your fingers mix till the mixture becomes a crumble. In a separate bowl combine the egg white and the tablespoon of water to make the egg wash. Beat with a wire whisk till foamy. Brush the tops of the loaves with the foam and then add the crumble topping.Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.
Sending this over to'Only'Cooking With Bread event hosted by Pari