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Cantaloupe Bread

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This fantastic cantaloupe quick bread is easy to pull together. It's a moist, delicious loaf of bread.

You may be wondering how you actually make bread with cantaloupe, but it's surprisingly simple! All you need to do is grate the cantaloupe with a cheese grater.

This is one of the best recipes for cantaloupe and a great way to use overripe cantaloupe.

A loaf of cantaloupe bread in a bread pan on a cooling rack.

Why You Should Make Cantaloupe Bread

This is one of the most interesting ways to use a ripe cantaloupe - it's especially good if your cantaloupe is a little over ripe and you don't want to use it in a salad.

It makes a delicious loaf of bread that's great to serve for an afternoon snack or a quick breakfast. It's sweet enough to be a treat but not overly sweet.

One of the best parts of making this bread is that it only requires one bowl - no separate bowl for dry ingredients. And like most other quick bread (like banana bread or zucchini bread) you don't need to knead the dough or use a mixer to make it.

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Ingredients

You don't need much to make this bread recipe - it calls for a few pantry ingredients. Here's what you'll need.

Cantaloupe, flour, brown sugar, an egg, melted butter, spices, baking powder, and vanilla.
  • Butter
  • Cantaloupe
  • Cinnamon
  • Baking soda
  • Ground ginger
  • Kosher salt
  • Brown sugar
  • Egg
  • Vanilla extract
  • All-purpose flour

See the recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 4x8-inch loaf pan.

Cut the rind off the cantaloupe and grate it using a box grater. You want to end up with around 2 cups of cantaloupe.

Melt the butter in a microwave.

Add the butter and grated cantaloupe to a large bowl. Stir to combine.

Melted butter and grated cantaloupe in a mixing bowl.

Add the cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, salt, and sugar to the cantaloupe mixture and stir to combine.

Sugar and spices being mixed into the cantaloupe bread dough.

Add the egg and vanilla and stir to combine. 

An egg and vanilla being cracked into the mixing bowl.

Then add the flour and stir just till combined. 

The cantaloupe bread batter in a mixing bowl.

Pour batter into the loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until cooked through. Use a wooden skewer to crumb test.

Cantaloupe bread batter in a bread pan before going in the oven.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes before removing and slicing. 

Two pieces of cantaloupe bread with butter and honey.

More Great Cantaloupe Recipes

If you love cantaloupe recipes as much as I do, check out some of these favorites.

How to Choose a Ripe Cantaloupe

Here's how to choose the best fresh cantaloupe.

  • Appearance - A ripe melon should be a tan or creamy yellow color with light green striations/lines.
  • Firmness - It should be firm, but not rock hard, without any obvious bruising
  • Smell - It should have a fruity, musky smell without any acidity

Storage

After allowing the bread to cool, you can wrap it in plastic wrap or store it in an airtight container or bag. It will keep for up to 5 days at room temperature.

You can freeze cantaloupe bread as well. I recommend slicing it and wrapping each piece separately, so you can reheat the amount you'd like to use.

Tips for Making this Recipe

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Cooking Tips - This recipe takes 50 minutes to 1 hour to bake. You can use a toothpick or wooden skewer to test the bread. The bread will be done when the skewer is poked in the center and comes back crumb-free.

Ingredient Variations - You can use white sugar or cane sugar instead of brown sugar. I'd recommend adding an additional ¼ cup if you use white, granulated sugar.

Alternative Preparations - If you don't have or would prefer not to use a box grater or cheese grater, you can blend the cantaloupe in a blender or food processor to make a cantaloupe puree.

If you try this recipe, let us know! Connect with us on Instagram and share your photos or leave us a rating.

Yield: 1 loaf (10 slices)

Cantaloupe Bread

Cantaloupe bread with butter and honey on a white plate.

This tasty cantaloupe quick bread is so easy to make!

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • ⅓ cup butter
  • ½ medium cantaloupe, seeds removed
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 4x8 inch loaf pan.
  2. Cut the rind off the cantaloupe and grate it using a box grater. 
  3. Melt the butter in a microwave.
  4. Add the butter and grated cantaloupe to a mixing bowl. Stir to combine.
  5. Add the cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, salt, and sugar to the bowl and stir to combine.
  6. Add the egg and vanilla and stir to combine. 
  7. Then add the flour and stir just till combined. 
  8. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until cooked through. Use a wooden skewer to crumb test. 
  9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes before removing and slicing. 

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

10

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 171Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 35mgSodium: 250mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 1gSugar: 10gProtein: 3g

Natalie

Tuesday 10th of October 2023

Whipped this up with super ripe cantaloupe Too ripe to grate. Mashed up in one bowl & continued with recipe. Turned out awesome! Delicious Applied some leftover buttercream icing to top Piped it on! Super yummy!

EW

Tuesday 10th of October 2023

Sounds wonderful with buttercream!!

Pat

Thursday 31st of August 2023

Couldn’t seem to grate the canteloupe. Just got liquid. You mentioned to have about two cups. If I puréed it would you still use 2 cups of purée?

EW

Friday 1st of September 2023

Yes, that should work!

Sha

Tuesday 29th of August 2023

Hello, I followed your recipe for cantaloupe bread, but it came out dense and dry once I cut into it was a pan full of dense crumble. used organic coconut sugar could that have been the problem. I will not give up.

Thank for the recipe.

Iphy

Tuesday 8th of August 2023

Love this recipe, can I use it for carrots and zucchini instead of cantaloup?

EW

Tuesday 8th of August 2023

I think zucchini would work fine (it has a high water content) but carrots probably not. Coincidentally I'm testing some zucchini bread next week so should have a recipe for that soon!

Pat

Friday 4th of August 2023

I wanted to try this recipe. Do I need to drain the cantaloupe?

EW

Friday 4th of August 2023

Nope! No need to drain the cantaloupe.

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