Melon pan is the Japanese classic sweet bread shaped to look like a melon or cantaloupe. It has a crunchy and sweet outer crust with a super soft and fluffy inside. I will show you how to make this amazing Japanese bread at home!
What is Melon Pan?
Melonpan is a type of sweet Japanese bread wrapped with crunchy cookie dough and replicates a melon or cantaloupe appearance.
Popular bread to taste among tourists in Tokyo
I never imagined that this Japanese classic Melon Pan would become so popular among tourists but it is and actually people queue up to buy melon pan in Tokyo. I visited the famous Kagetsudo Melon bread shop in Asakusa in April and had a massive Melon pan!
Appearance vs Flavour
Traditional melon pan doesn’t contain any melon or melon flavour but nowadays some melon pan does have a bit of a melon flavour and some stores do colour them green to make them look more like a melon. You can even buy green melon pan in Tokyo Disneyland that is made to look like Mike Wazowski. But personally, I prefer the original melon pan that is just a simple sweet bread flavour.
Interesting fact about Melon Pan
When my melon pan recipe first appeared on the blog, curious readers notified me about a Mexican sweet bread called “Conchas”. It’s fascinating that a similar type of bread to melonpan is found in Mexico! If you are interested about the story read it here.
Common failure of making Melon Pan
Does your melonpan taste great but the appearance does not meet your expectations? A common failure is that the cookie dough cracks during the second rise or while being baked.
Tips to make Melon Pan at home
- Make the cookie dough before you start to make the bread and let the cookie dough rest in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Take the cookie dough out before you wrap and roll the bread dough. It’s easier to roll it out thinly without making any cracks when it is softened in room temperature.
- Use a small bowl to shape a half hemisphere in order to wrap the bread dough easily without making the cookie dough edge pleated.
- Do not score the cookie dough too deeply.
Here is my instruction for Melon Pan and If you liked it, please rate it and leave a comment or any questions below. Also, don’t forget to follow me on Youtube, Pinterest, Facebook , Twitter and Instagram to keep up to date with all the latest happenings on Chopstick Chronicles. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #ChopstickChronicles so I can see your wonderful creations!
Melon Pan メロンパン
Video
Ingredients
Bread dough
- 300 g baker’s flour
- 40 g butter chopped
- 25 g sugar
- 4 g salt
- 160 ml milk
- 1 extra large egg
- 3 g dry yeast
Cookie dough
- 240 g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 80 g butter
- 80 g sugar
- 1 extra large egg
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla essence
- Granule sugar for sprinkle
Instructions
- Make the cookie dough by placing the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat until light and creamy.
- Add the egg and vanilla essence and mix until well combined.
- Fold through the flour and baking powder.
- Divide the cookie dough into 8 small balls and set aside in the fridge. *1
- Combine egg, yeast, milk and sugar in a small bowl or jug
- Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl.
- Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the liquid mixture and stir to form a soft dough.
- Transfer to an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook and knead for about 10 min or until smooth and elastic.
- With the mixer motor running, add the chopped butter until the butter is combined and a smooth and silky dough forms (about a further 10 minutes).
- Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover and set aside in a warm place to prove for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- Divide the bread dough into 8 equal sized balls and knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth.
- Roll out the refrigerated cookie dough on cling wrap to 5mm thick.
- Once it is rolled place one bread dough on top of one cookie dough ball and wrap together using cling wrap.
- Take the cling wrap off and score the cookie dough surface diagonally and sprinkle the granule sugar.
- Repeat for all 8 bread rolls.
- Place them on a cooking paper lined oven tray and cover with clean damp cloth and set aside for about 40 min or until doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 180 degree(356 f) and bake for 15 minutes.
There needs to be more specifications about this recipe. The dough did not rise even if kept in a warm place.
Hi Kevin, I am sorry to hear your Japanese melon bread did not turn well. I will update the recipe when I can as this bread is not easy to make. Thank you for trying this recipe though 😀
My family says these taste like the ones we had in Osaka (with matcha ice cream)! I changed regular milk to oat milk since I can’t have too much dairy. Thank you for the recipe 🤩
Thank you so much for your lovely comment :D, this is exactly why I created this recipe blog.
We had Melon Pan recently when we visited our son in Japan, and we fell in love with it. We tried this recipe and it was perfect! We may have to make adjustments for high altitude (8000 ft), but it won’t have to be major. We also learned a few tricks on our first batch that will help with future batches. Thank you so much for sharing! Reminds us of our son and the wonderful trip to Japan. 🥰
Hi Kristin, Thank you so much for your lovely comment and 5 star rating!! This is exactly why I am writing this recipe blog 😀
What can you use instead of bakers flour?
You can use protein content above 12% flour.
Should I store these in an air tight container or leave them out please?
Hi Wendie, you can individually wrap them and freeze. I usually leave them out and they are gone in a day:D
Hi Shihoko-san,
quick question for the cookie dough the equivalent to the Plain Flour? Is that AP or Cake/pastry flour? I like your recipe over the others I have seen online. ありがとう
Thank you Scott, I used close to AP flour, not cake/pastry flour 😀
Short story my wife is Japanese and just come back from Chiba.She mentioned oishi melon pan a few times so i made some home food for her.
Lovely recipe domo arigato.
Awww, Thank you Jerome 😀
Hi, im shierly from indonesia
thankyou for sharing your recipe!!
It is really great!!
But im just curious why does my melon pan cookie getting soggy when it’s cool down? Was it because it was too thick or is there any suggestion how to do it that can make the crust crispyer ?
Thankyou so much!
Hi Shierly Thank you for leaving comment and 5 star rating. Yay from Indonesia too 😀 Well, good question though I have never thought about as usually when I bake melon pan, it all goes quickly. So I need to figure out why.
My cookie dough was dry and ended up breaking during baking. Can this be fixed by halving the size of buns? Or can I add water to the cookie dough?
Hi Jocelyn, when you divide and shape them round the cookie dough, leave it on a shallow container and wrap with cling wrap. Leave them for about 30 minutes in room temperature. As you suggested, changing the size of buns may help as well but adding water will not fix the issue I think.
Thanks a lot i love this recipe
God bless…
This was so delicious!! I made it today because our local oriental market has been out for the last two weeks. This is so much better.
Thank you for your wonderful recipe.
My only question is how to store these? And how long do they last?
Thank you again!
Hi Lauren, Thank you for making MeLon Bread. You can store baked melon bread in freezer for a week, microwave defrost and bake in 200 preheated oven for a couple minutes to enjoy freshly baked Melon bread again 😀