Melonpan (or melon bread in English) is a Japanese sweet bread covered in a cookie crust and cut to resemble the pattern of a melon. There's no actual melon in this bread! I made many variations of this bread to look like popular Japanese characters, as well as the infamous corgi butt and turtle breads. But I have the basic recipe below.

I altered the original recipe and added tangzhong (like with milk bread) to make the bread fluffier and softer ~

I filled mine with bean pastes, creams, and mochi, but that's not traditional. It's up to you!

(Pictured: Soot Sprites, Corgi Butt, Turtle, Totoro, Keroppi, Jiji, Anpanman, No Face, basic classic, and Rilakkuma)

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Bread Dough​

 

• For tangzhong roux: 12 g (1 1/2 Tablespoons) bread or all-purpose flour + 60 g (1/4 cup) water
   

• 200 g bread flour (1 2/3 cup)

• 25 g cake flour (scant ¼ cup)

• • Can substitute all the flour for 225 g all-purpose for convenience

• 3 g kosher salt

• 40 g sugar

• 4 g instant dry yeast

• 1 large egg, beaten

• 50 ml whole milk (86°F/30°C)

• 40 ml water (86°F/30°C)

• 35 g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes and at room temp
   

Cookie Crust Dough
 

• 60 g unsalted butter, room temp.

• 100 g sugar

• 1 large egg, beaten

• 200 g cake flour (or all-purpose flour)

• 2 g baking powder 
   

• 2 Tbsp sugar for sprinkling
   

Instructions​

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1. Bread dough: For the tangzhong, whisk together the water and flour in a small saucepan over medium heat until a thickened paste forms. Remove from heat, cover, and let cool to room temp.

2. In a large bowl, combine bread flour, cake flour, granulated sugar, and 3 g kosher salt.

3. Add 4 g instant dry yeast and 1 large beaten egg to the bowl with dry ingredients.

4. Add milk and water, both at 86°F (30°C). Gently mix the ingredients together until they are combined. In the beginning, the dough is very sticky and wet, but keep mixing until it forms a loose, sticky ball. Transfer the dough from the bowl to a lightly floured work surface. Add in the butter chunks and tangzhong mixture and incorporate/knead until fully combined

5. Knead the dough until it's smooth. 10-15 minutes by hand

   • Tip: If the dough doesn't seem to be losing its stickiness, you can lightly dust your hands with flour to keep the dough from sticking too much.​

   • This can all be done in a stand mixer with a dough hook

6. When the dough gets silky and smooth, stretch a piece of dough for the Windowpane Test to see if the dough's gluten has been developed enough. If the dough tears, the gluten isn’t quite ready yet. Knead the dough for another 2 minutes and test again.

7. Shape the dough into a ball. Place the dough in a bowl seam side down.

8. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, about 1-2 hours.

9. Cookie Topping: In a large bowl, add unsalted butter and mix with a spatula until it becomes smooth. Add granulated sugar and mix well.

   • ​Can also do this with a mixer and the paddle attachment

10. Slowly add very small amount of beaten egg into the bowl and blend well before you add another small amount of egg. Mix well until combined

11. Sift cake flour and baking powder into the mixture.

12. Fold the flour into the butter mixture until the dough is homogenous. Collect the dough and make into a ball.

13. Weigh the total mass of the dough. Weigh and cut the dough into 10 equal pieces.

14. Roll the 10 pieces of cookie dough into 10 balls. Place them on a baking sheet lined with silicone baking mat or baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and rest in the refrigerator for 10 minutes until it hardens a bit.

15. Melonpan: Once the bread dough has doubled in size, dust your index finger with flour and put it in the center of the dough. If the hole doesn’t close, then it’s ready.

16. Remove the dough with a dough scraper and transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Press the dough with your hands to deflate gas in the dough.

17. Fold the dough in thirds and then fold in thirds again. Flip to keep the seam side on the bottom. Shape the dough into a ball. Roll to close the seam

18. Measure the weight of the bread dough. Using a dough scraper and a scale, cut the dough into 10 equal pieces. Shape each dough piece into a round ball.

19. Put the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a tea towel to prevent from drying. Rest the dough for 15 minutes at room temperature.

20. Put the cookie dough on the lightly floured work surface and flatten the dough with your hand. Using a rolling pin, roll out into 4 inch (10-12 cm) flat rounds. Continue the rest until the bread dough is ready.

21. Place the cookie round in your hand and put the rested bread dough in the middle of the cookie round, seam side facing up. Invert so the cookie dough is on top. Gently shape all sides of the cookie dough to wrap around the bread dough.

22. Coat the cookie dough with granulated sugar for sprinkling and remove the excess sugar. Then using a dough scraper or knife, gently score the cookie dough into crisscross pattern

23. Place the bread on the baking sheet, seam side on the bottom. Cover the bread with plastic wrap or a tea towel to prevent from drying.

24. Let the dough rise in a warm place until the dough rises 1.5 x in size, about 50 minutes. This may take longer if the ambient temperature is cooler.

25. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

26. Bake melonpan for 13-15 minutes. Toward the end of baking if you see the bread is not browning evenly, rotate the bread halfway through.

27. Once bread is baked, transfer to a wire rack and let it cool. Keep in an airtight container or bag after it’s been cooled. Enjoy!