Melonpan
One of the most popular buns in Japanese bakeries, named for a pattern resembling cantaloupe rind — there is no melon in it. It is two doughs in one: soft yeast dough inside and a crisp layer of cookie dough on top, rolled in sugar. The difficulty is that the cookie dough must be cold and firm when wrapped around the bun, then rise with it and crack into its characteristic lattice.
Your own work in that: 25 min.
- Yeast dough 20 min
- Rising (cookie dough meanwhile) 60 min
- Shaping and wrapping 25 min
- Second rise 60 min
- Baking 15 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneKnead a soft yeast dough
Mix the flour, milk, egg, sugar, yeast and salt, knead 8 minutes, add the butter and knead 5 more, until smooth and elastic. Cover and leave somewhere warm for 60 minutes to double.
Ingredients: 300 g strong bread flour · 150 ml milk · 1 pcs egg · 35 g sugar · 5 g dried yeast · 30 g butter · 1 tsp salt
Make the cookie dough and chill it
While the dough rises, cream the butter with the sugar, add the egg, vanilla and zest, then the flour with the baking powder and bring briefly into a smooth dough. Divide into 8 balls and chill 30 minutes. Warm cookie dough sticks to your hands and tears as you wrap.
Ingredients: 200 g plain flour · 60 g butter · 80 g sugar · 1 pcs egg · ½ tsp baking powder · 1 tsp vanilla extract · ½ pcs lemon
Flatten cookie discs between film
Set a ball of cookie dough between two sheets of film and flatten it with your palm into an 11 cm disc about 4 mm thick. The film lets you lift the disc without tearing. Keep the finished discs chilled.
Ingredients: 200 g plain flour · 60 g butter · 80 g sugar · 1 pcs egg · ½ tsp baking powder · 1 tsp vanilla extract · ½ pcs lemon
Between film, 11 cm, 4 mm — and back in the fridge.Shape balls of yeast dough
Divide the risen dough into 8 pieces and shape smooth, tight balls. The smooth surface matters — the cookie dough must cling to it without air pockets, which later become holes.
Ingredients: 300 g strong bread flour · 150 ml milk · 1 pcs egg · 35 g sugar · 5 g dried yeast · 30 g butter · 1 tsp salt
Wrap the balls in cookie dough
Lay a cold disc on your palm, set a dough ball on it smooth side down and stretch the cookie dough over the top and sides, leaving the base bare. The base must stay uncovered, as the yeast dough needs room to rise.
Ingredients: 200 g plain flour · 60 g butter · 80 g sugar · 1 pcs egg · ½ tsp baking powder · 1 tsp vanilla extract · ½ pcs lemon
Top and sides under cookie dough, base bare.Roll in sugar and score a lattice
Roll the tops in granulated sugar, then score a diamond lattice with a scraper, without cutting through the cookie layer. The scores set where the crust cracks as it rises — that is what forms the melon pattern.
Ingredients: 4 tbsp granulated sugar
A diamond lattice — the crust cracks there like melon rind.Second rise
Space the buns on a tray and leave 45–60 minutes somewhere warm but not hot, until half again as big. Too warm and the butter in the cookie dough melts and the crust slides off. Towards the end heat the oven to 180°C.
Ingredients: 300 g strong bread flour · 150 ml milk · 1 pcs egg · 35 g sugar · 5 g dried yeast · 30 g butter · 1 tsp salt
Bake to pale gold
Bake 13–15 minutes at 180°C, until the crust is pale gold, not brown. Melonpan should be light — overbaked, it loses its delicate buttery flavour. Cool on a rack; the crust hardens within minutes.
Ingredients: 300 g strong bread flour · 150 ml milk · 1 pcs egg · 35 g sugar · 5 g dried yeast · 30 g butter · 1 tsp salt
Before you start
Filled versions
Japan has many melonpan versions: with custard inside, chocolate chips in the cookie dough, matcha. There is even an ice-cream version — the warm bun split and filled with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Cookie dough always cold
If your kitchen is warm, keep the cookie discs chilled until the moment of wrapping and work two buns at a time. The commonest cause of failure — warmed cookie dough will not stretch and tears.
Best on the day
The melonpan crust softens after a day as it absorbs moisture from the bun. Refresh it with 3 minutes in a 170°C oven. Baked buns freeze well.
