Melon Pan — soft yeast buns under a crisp cookie crust

i. Origin & history

Melon pan emerged in early-20th-century Japan, likely in Kobe or Hiroshima depending on whose claim you believe. They are now a fixture of every Japanese bakery and konbini chain.

ii. Ingredients

Makes 8 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 250 g bread flour
• 30 g sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 5 g instant yeast
• 120 ml warm milk
• 1 egg
• 30 g unsalted butter, softened
• 100 g unsalted butter, softened (cookie crust)
• 100 g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 200 g plain flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar for rolling

iii. Method

1. Make the bread dough: mix flour, sugar, salt, yeast. Add warm milk + egg. Knead 10 min, then knead in soft butter. Prove 60-90 min until doubled.
2. Make cookie dough: cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Fold in flour and baking powder until smooth. Chill 30 min.
3. Divide each into 8. Roll cookie dough into 10 cm discs.
4. Shape bread dough into rounds. Wrap each in a cookie disc, sealing at the bottom. Roll in granulated sugar.
5. Score a cross-hatch into the cookie with a knife. Place on lined trays; prove 30 min.
6. Bake at 180 °C / 350 °F for 13-15 min until pale gold. Cool — the cookie crust crisps as it cools.

iv. Tips & common mistakes

• Cold cookie dough only. Warm cookie dough tears and slides off the bread.
• Pale crust. Over-browned cookie loses its delicate crackle.
• Eat warm. Like all enriched breads, melon pan are at their best within hours of baking.

v. Variations

Matcha melon pan adds matcha to the cookie crust. Chocolate, strawberry, plain are common. Some Japanese chains stuff melon pan with whipped cream or ice cream for a hybrid sweet.

vii. More from Japanese

• Anpan — sweet-bean filled buns
• Bungeoppang — Korean fish-shaped pastries
• Croffle — croissant-waffle hybrid
• Cronut — croissant-doughnut hybrid
• Berliner — jam-filled German doughnuts
• Schnecken — cinnamon snail rolls