This easy resurrection rolls are made with canned crescents and marshmallows. They are a great way to celebrate the true meaning of easter.

They are so easy to make. So let’s get started…first you gather your ingredients, crescent rolls, marshmallows, butter, cinnamon and sugar. I like to have everything all set up before my kids wake up so we don’t waste any time. Open up that package of rolls…which is always so hard for me. Maybe because this is literally the only time I buy them in a year so I don’t have a lot of practice. As you can see I am terrible at separating those little triangles, oh well!

How to Make Resurrection Rolls

We explain that the marshmallow represents Jesus’ body. By the time Easter Sunday rolls around, we have already spent two weeks learning about every aspect of the Easter story. We use this activity more as a review, but you can definitely tell the Easter story from one of the Gospels as you go. We discuss how Jesus died (Matthew 27:45-57) and why (John 3:16-17).

The butter and cinnamon/sugar represent the spices and oils used to anoint Jesus’s body for burial. We explain that Jesus really died. (Matthew 6:57-61). We let the kids get crazy messy and dip the marshmallows first in butter, then in cinnamon sugar…with plenty of finger licking in between.

Then we explain that the rolls represents the tomb. We have the kids put the marshmallow on the dough and then roll it up very tight. We use this opportunity to teach them that the tomb was heavily guarded and secure (Matthew 27:62-66). The Romans put a huge rock in front of the entrance to the tomb and assigned armed guards to keep watch outside. We emphasize how it would be impossible for a mere man to get in or out of the tomb.

Practically speaking…you want to make sure that you close all the seals and cracks as you cover the marshmallow with the roll, otherwise you’ll have a gooey mess after baking!

The oven represents the time Jesus was dead in the tomb. We put the rolls in the oven and discuss how Jesus was in the tomb from Friday to Sunday.

Then we remove the rolls and discuss the resurrection. (Matthew 28:1-20) The kids open the rolls to see that the marshmallow is GONE! Just like Jesus’s body was no longer in the tomb when the women came to see him on Sunday. We discuss the importance of the resurrection in our lives and that salvation comes by grace alone through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Then we let the kids go at it.

Recipe FAQs

More Delicious Recipes

• Try these Homemade Resurrection Rolls (Empty Tomb Rolls) for another Easter lesson with your kids.
• For other delicious roll recipes try Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls Recipe (Better than Cinnabon), or The Best Homemade Dinner Rolls Recipe Homemade Pretzel Bread (Pretzel Rolls).
• I love making this Gluten-Free Carrot Cake (Dairy-Free) for Easter as well.

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