Melon Pan (メロンパン) is a Japanese sweet bread with a thin cookie crust on top. It is one of the most popular Kashi Pan (sweet bread) in Japan, loved by the young and the old.
Melon Pan was created about 50 years ago in Kobe by a bread baker. Originally Melon Pan was football-shaped rather than round. Because the bread was shaped similarly to the melons commonly eaten at that time, it was named Melon Pan. Today, Melon Pan is more typically a round shape with the signature look of grid line indentations. The flavor usually has nothing to do with the name, but more recently some bread makers try to add a melon flavoring or even fruit itself to the dough. You can add melon extract to the cookie dough if you can find it (never found in the US). We added lemon zest and vanilla extract here, and that gives a nice sweet smell.