🍈 Melon Pan
Melon pan is a Japanese sweet bun: a soft, enriched bread dough covered with a thin layer of sweet cookie dough, scored in a criss-cross pattern and baked. The top turns crisp and sugary like a biscuit, while the inside stays fluffy. Despite the name it usually contains no melon; the name comes from its look, like a cantaloupe rind.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 g bread dough (enriched with butter and milk), proved once
- Cookie dough: 50 g butter, 70 g sugar, 1 egg, 150 g wheat flour
- 2 tbsp sugar for sprinkling
Method
- Divide the proved bread dough into 8 balls and let them rest 10 minutes.
- For the cookie dough, cream the butter and sugar, beat in the egg, then mix in the flour; chill 30 minutes.
- Roll the cookie dough into 8 thin discs and wrap one over the top of each bun.
- Dip the tops in sugar, score a criss-cross pattern and let them prove 40 minutes.
- Bake at 180 °C for 13–15 minutes until pale golden.
How to make it lighter
- One bun is a full sweet snack; share it or pair half with fruit.
- Make smaller buns (about 60 g) from the same dough.
- Skip the extra sugar sprinkle on the top.
History
Melon pan appeared in Japanese bakeries in the early 20th century, as Western-style bread became popular, though who created it is not clearly documented. It became one of the best-known Japanese kashi-pan, or sweet breads. Today it is sold in bakeries and convenience stores all over Japan.
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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 →