These Resurrection Rolls are made with premade dough, cinnamon sugar, melted butter, and marshmallows. Make these with your family and friends and take the opportunity to share an Easter message. It is a wonderful object lesson and visual reminder of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The rolls are filled with marshmallows and after they are baked they appear empty like the tomb. Kids especially love getting their hands a little messy while making these together.
Resurrection rolls are a special Easter tradition and help our family focus on the real reason for the holiday, Jesus!
What you’ll need to make Resurrection Rolls:
- 12 Rhodes freezer dinner rolls dough balls, thawed
- 12 regular marshmallows, not mini
- 1/2 stick of butter, melted
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp. cinnamon
DOUGH:
If you have a yummy homemade roll recipe you would like to use instead of the Rhodes rolls, that would work just fine. You will need enough for a dozen rolls, the dough balls should be about the size of a golf ball. You can also use refrigerated crescent roll dough for these, but they will cook much quicker, about 8 to 10 minutes.
LET’S MAKE SOME:
Mix the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. In another small bowl, melt the butter and allow to cool slightly so little fingers don’t get burned. Take each dough ball and flatten them out. Next take a marshmallow and dip in the melted butter and then into the cinnamon sugar. My boys love helping with this part.
Lesson: The butter and cinnamon sugar represent the oil and spices that Jesus’ friends used when preparing his body for burial.
After you have dipped a marshmallow in butter and cinnamon sugar, place it in the center of a piece of dough and pull the dough around it and seal the edges. Make sure you pinch it tight so the marshmallow doesn’t leak out when baking, we have had that happen before.
Lesson: The dough represents the tomb that Jesus was buried in.
Take the dough ball with the marshmallow inside and dip it in butter and again in cinnamon sugar. Place each of the completed dough balls into a 9×13 inch baking pan and allow to rest, covered, for 15-20 minutes.
Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 18-20 minutes. You will want to remove them from the pan pretty quickly, because they like to stick. Parchment paper is always a good idea for clean-up, but we didn’t bother this time.
As the rolls bake you can talk to the kids about Jesus. Ask what they know about Jesus, his life, death, and resurrection. You can also review the account given in Matthew 28: 1-6. It is also written in John chapter 20.
Personal story about death and resurrection:
We recently lost my father-in-law and it has been a privilege and a bit of a challenge to explain to our little boys where Grandpa went and what it all means. It was a very tender moment when we took them to view his body at the mortuary. It looked like Grandpa, but he wasn’t there anymore. We explained as simply as possible that Grandpa’s spirit had left his body and he went to be with Jesus. I told them how lucky and blessed we are that Jesus died for us and was resurrected and that we will all be resurrected too. It is such a comfort to know that we will see our loves ones again. The boys listened closely with wide eyes as we explained that Grandpa’s body would be perfect and that he wouldn’t be sick anymore. He battled cancer for the last several months of his life and the boys loved to visit him and make him cards to help him feel better. They know how weak and tired Grandpa was and how much he was hurting.
TESTIMONY:
A couple weeks after Grandpa passed away, my youngest guy who is three, kept telling me that we were “going to die tomorrow.” Not going to lie, he kind of freaked me out. But then he got a serious look on his cute little face, grinned, then whispered, “then we’re going to see Jesus!” If the only thing I ever teach these 5 beautiful children that have been entrusted to me is to know and love their Savior, Jesus Christ, I will have done my job.
THE EMPTY TOMB:
Once the rolls have cooled slightly you can open them up and discover that they are empty, just like Jesus’ tomb. Explain to the kids that the rolls have become sweet from the sugar and marshmallows and that death is sweet too because of the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is RISEN!
We hope that your family loves these Resurrection Rolls and the symbolism and lesson about Easter as much as we do. Thanks for stopping by.
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Resurrection Rolls
Learn about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ as you make these Resurrection Rolls with family. The marshmallows melt during baking and when you open them up they are empty, like Jesus' tomb on the 3rd day.
Ingredients
- 12 Rhodes freezer rolls dough, thawed
- 12 regular size marshmallows, not mini or jumbo
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 stick butter, melted
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 9x13 inch pan.
- Mix the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.
- Flatten each ball of dough ball into a circle.
- Dip each marshmallow in melted butter then cinnamon sugar and place in center of dough.
- Wrap the dough around the marshmallow and pinch closed tightly.
- Dip the dough ball with marshmallow into butter then again in cinnamon sugar.
- Continue with each dough ball and marshmallow.
- Place all 12 dough balls in a 9x13 inch pan and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes.
- Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 18-20 minutes until golden.
- Allow to cool slightly before opening to reveal the empty center and eating.
Notes
These are best eaten fresh but can be stored covered at room temperature for 2 to 3 days.
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Donna
Monday 24th of July 2023
That was such a sweet story of the resurrection.