A fun Easter treat that teaches children (and adults!) the real reason behind the holiday of Easter. These resurrection rolls are so easy to make and absolutely delicious!
You know those moms who have something fun planned for every holiday? Like the parents who make special pancakes in fun shapes for Valentines Day or Easter or something? Or the ones that make giant posterboards with candy attached to them for their children’s Birthdays?
Yeah. I’m not one of those moms.
I have to admit that I’m not very good at holidays. I usually don’t think of fun and clever ways to celebrate or to get my kids excited about it.
But I was recently at a church meeting and one of the other women I was with mentioned making some cool rolls for Easter with her kids.
Of course, being a foodie and an obsessive carb-lover, my ears perked up at this. I asked her to elaborate on her Easter rolls. She gave me the rundown on her super cute Easter tradition and I decided that I HAD to make these with my kids.
Not only are they delicious, but they teach the real reason we celebrate Easter. It’s not about the Easter bunny, but about Christ and how he was resurrected after being crucified.
I know what you’re thinking… how in the world does a roll teach that?!
Let me show you!
- First, gather the kids together (or your significant other, grandparents, aunts, uncle, whoever). Get your ingredients out and preheat the oven. Read John 19 in the New Testament while the oven is pre-heating.
- Unroll the crescent rolls, separating each section. Explain that this is like the cloth they wrapped Jesus in.
- Give your child a marshmallow and explain that it represents Jesus. It’s white and pure because He was without sin.
- Roll the marshmallow in a small bowl of water. This symbolizes the embalming oils.
- Now, roll the marshmallow in the cinnamon & sugar mixture. This is like the spices used to prepare his body for burial.
- Next up, wrap the marshmallow in the crescent roll dough, making sure to pinch the dough together securely on the sides. Don’t worry about what they look like because they’ll taste great no matter what! This represents how they wrapped Jesus’ body.
- Repeat with each marshmallow and place the rolls in the oven (symbolizing the tomb) and bake for the amount of time specified on the package – 8 to 10 minutes.
- While the rolls are baking, read John 20:1-18.
- When the cook time is up, open the tomb and remove the rolls. When they’re cool enough to handle, let your child(ren) open one and discover what happened to the marshmallow. It’s disappeared! This signifies how Jesus has been resurrected.
See? A simple and easy roll recipe that can give the story of Jesus and his resurrection.
Start a new tradition with your family this year and make these Resurrection Rolls. Your family will learn from them and have a delicious treat, too!
Even if you don’t want to do the whole “Easter lesson” part, these are fabulous rolls that your family will love to eat for dessert! I hope you enjoy them as much as my family did. 🙂
Ingredients
- 1 can Pillsbury Crescent Dough
- 8 large marshmallows
- water
- cinnamon & sugar mixed together in a bowl
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ºF. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.
- Unroll crescent dough and separate each triangle.
- Have children dip marshmallow in water. Roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture.
- Place marshmallow in the top of the crescent roll and roll into a crescent roll shape, then secure the sides by tucking them under and pinching them closed. (Don't worry about how they look! They will be yummy!)
- Place on prepared cookie sheet and repeat with remaining 7 rolls.
- Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown on the outside.
- Let cool for a few minutes and then let the children pick a roll to open up. The marshmallow has disappeared!
- Enjoy. 😉
If you liked this fun recipe, you might like these too:
Baked Biscuit Donuts with Strawberry Glaze
Easy Peach & Blueberry Cobbler
I love this idea, Jen! My mom is a Sunday school teacher and this would be a great way to illustrate the meaning of Easter to her class. I am passing this along to her!
Oh my stars – I’m going to have to make these. YUM!
Love this idea, what a great activity for the kids! Thanks for sharing
Thank you so much for posting this. This was a really sweet experience for our family today. Our toddler really got it. We are grateful!
I’m thrilled you all liked this! Happy Easter!
we make these each year! we haven’t read the passage before though and i think we should now that you mentioned it 🙂 one thing we do different is we also put nuts in a baggie and pound them…reminding us that He was bruised for our transgressions. add them into the roll before closing and cooking .Happy Resurrection!
I love the nut addition to this. I’ll have to try that next time! Happy Easter!! Thanks for the comment!
I was asked to make these for our church’s Easter service this Sunday, and I have to say, I was surprised at how good they are! They were delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
I’m so happy you liked them! They’re SO good!
Well, I thought I would try this out with my kids to teach them about the resurrection. All their Sunday School lessons are leading up to Easter so I thought I would give them a preview of attractions. Truth is, I really wanted to taste these rolls. Everything was going well until I opened “the tomb” and we found that the marshmallows had exploded all over the pan during cooking and rather than it being a wonderful teaching moment, it looked like Jesus had exploded on the baking sheet. I don’t know what I did wrong. I followed the recipe exactly. I should have let my wife handle it from there, but I was nervous and couldn’t stop talking; trying to put a positive spin on the gooey mess. Anyway, I’m pretty sure my oldest is going to need therapy.
The rolls were yummy though!
Hi Terry! Love your comment! Sorry some of the marshmallow didn’t stay inside the crescent roll. I did have one or two that did that to me as well. I think it just has to do with the dough not being closed all the way and the seams opening. I’m sure it was a great teaching moment for your kiddos regardless! Thanks for giving it a try!
I work in a nursing home and we had our residents make these as an activity and they just love them and thought what a wonderful idea!!!
Thank you
Oh my goodness! It was fun to make, delicious to eat and taught a fun and essential lesson about The Resurrection of Jesus.
Awesome!
Absolutely loved the story and taste so yummy!!
I love making these with my daughter. It is wonderful bonding time.
So cool! How much sugar/cinnamon is recommended? Thanks!