Easy Resurrection Rolls

Name: Resurrection Rolls
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 11 min
Total time: 16 min
Ingredients: 1 can refrigerated crescent rolls; 8 marshmallows; 4 Tablespoons butter; 2 teaspoons cinnamon; 3 Tablespoons sugar

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ByCourtney UpdatedFebruary 12, 2025

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Resurrection Rolls are a tasty and fun Easter treat that’s perfect for sharing the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection with kids!

These resurrection rolls (AKA “Empty Tomb Rolls”) are so easy to make and taste insanely yummy. Butter, cinnamon, marshmallows, and crescent rolls team up in this recipe to create a gooey sweet roll in just 16 minutes that’s the most delicious demonstration of the Resurrection story.

Closeup of baked resurrection rolls on a sheet pan.

Table of Contents

Great Easter Desserts

Easter is a great time to cook and bake with your kids. Even if painting or dying hard boiled eggs isn’t your thing, there’s always plenty of ways to use that leftover Easter candy. I mean, why let those pastel colored M&Ms go stale when you could bake up a batch of Easter-themed Monster Cookie Bars, or mix up a bowl of spring colors White Chocolate Popcorn for movie-night?

Also, don’t rule out baking a special batch of our Mini Egg Cookies for the Easter potluck or your neighborhood egg hunt. Or, for the really young kiddos, nothing beats the no-bake simplicity of our gluten free Chocolate Robin’s Eggs Nests.

Still, as great as it is making any of these fun recipes with your kids, none can match the significance of sharing the Easter story of Jesus while baking these Resurrection Rolls. Now, how, might you ask, can a marshmallow and a crescent roll possibly share the story of Easter?

Sheet pan full of baked resurrection rolls.

How Can Rolls Share the Easter Story?

Resurrection Rolls are made by wrapping a marshmallow (which represents Jesus) in a crescent roll and baking it. Once baked, the marshmallow has miraculously vanished, leaving only a hollow sweet shell inside the dough (representing the empty tomb).

No one’s saying it’s a perfect object lesson, but Resurrection Rolls are a wonderful way to engage your kids in the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and there’s a delicious sweet treat to enjoy at the end. Sure beats a flannelgraph if you ask me.

Process of rolling up Resurrection rolls in crescent dough.

Ingredients for Easy Resurrection Rolls

Crescent roll dough – We love premade doughs because they’re a shortcut to some of our favorite recipes like our Apple Cinnamon Roll Bake, our Easy Crescent Roll Apple Dumplings, Jalapeno Cheddar Monkey Bread, or our cold Veggie Pizza. Like a golden flaky cheat code! Here in this Resurrection Rolls recipe they keep the prep time down to just 5 minutes! But if you must go with a homemade dough, our Make Ahead Butterhorns dough would be perfect.
Marshmallows – Large, fluffy and sweet. These beauties are what make this whole recipe happen. If melty marshmallowy goodness isn’t your thing, go ahead and skip our Amish Peanut Butter Spread, Fruity Pebble Crispy Treats, S’mores Casserole, and Graham Cracker Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Butter – always.
Cinnamon sugar – Because if there’s dough and butter involved, cinnamon sugar just begs to tag along.

Overhead of baked Resurrection rolls on a sheet pan.

How to Make Easter Resurrection Rolls

Start by gathering all your ingredients together. Mix up a bowl of cinnamon and sugar. Melt some butter. Grab some marshmallows and open and separate a tube of crescent rolls.
Bring the kiddos to the table. Begin the story by telling them about Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. You might want to read Mark 15 and 16 together.
Now, share what each of the ingredients represents. Have the children each take a marshmallow, which represents Jesus. Have them dip the marshmallows in the butter and then roll it in the cinnamon and sugar. This represents the way the women prepared Jesus for burial by anointing him with oil and spices.
Place each marshmallow in the center of a crescent roll and wrap it up, tucking and sealing the ends well. The crescent roll represents Jesus’ grave clothes.
Put the rolls on the baking sheet and place them in the tomb (oven) and seal the tomb with a big rock (the oven door). While the rolls bake, the marshmallow will disappear, leaving behind nothing but a sweet, cinnamon sugar coating in the center.
Remove the rolls from the oven. Once they are cool enough to handle, have the children pull apart the rolls to reveal the (now invisible) marshmallow. Tell them about Jesus’ resurrection and how, when the women arrived at the tomb they found it empty. Jesus had risen from the dead!

Resurrection Roll pulled apart to see cinnamon sugar inside.

Resurrection Rolls Tips and Notes

After telling the story, you can give thanks with your kids for the gift of Jesus death and resurrection and for the gift of ooey, gooey, sweetly spiced rolls.
Sealing the rolls as tightly as possible is important so the marshmallow doesn’t leak all over the pan. However, if you do get some leakage, don’t fear! The rolls will still be absolutely delicious!
Once made, empty tomb rolls are, well… EMPTY. So you should enjoy them ASAP while they are still warm. Once they cool off they tend to deflate, so do not try to refrigerate or freeze them.
These rolls are an “on-demand” sort of recipe (NOT make-ahead friendly). Good thing this recipe only takes 16 minutes!
If you need a visual, be sure to check out the step-by-step video to see how to make these Easy Resurrection Rolls

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Easter, and that the great gift of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection brings you hope and joy.

Resurrection Rolls

Easy Resurrection Rolls are a tasty, cinnamon sugar treat that helps families share the story of Easter with their children.

4.4 from 7 votes

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Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 11

Total Time: 16

Servings: 8

Calories: 190kcal

Video

Ingredients

1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
8 marshmallows
4 Tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 Tablespoons sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Melt butter in a small, shallow dish.
In another shallow dish, stir together sugar and cinnamon.
Roll out crescents and divide along perforations. Dip a marshmallow in the butter, then the cinnamon sugar mixture then place it in the center of the crescent. Fold up the top two corners then roll the crescent up to the skinny end. Seal up all the edges super tight, making sure there are no holes. Repeat with remaining crescents and marshmallows.
Place crescents on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. If desired, mix together remaining butter and cinnamon sugar and brush it on the top of the crescents. Place in the oven and bake for 11-13 minutes or until crescents are light golden brown and puffy.
Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Notes

Make sure to pinch the dough really well so the marshmallow doesn’t leak out!

Course Bread, Rolls & Biscuits

Cuisine American

Keyword disappearing marshmallow rolls, easter craft for kids, easter recipe for kids, resurrection rolls

Nutrition

Did You Make This Recipe?Leave a review, Mention @NeighborFoodie, or tag #neighborfoodies!

I got this recipe from a friend at church, but there are versions of it all over the Internet. Who the originator is, I’m not sure, but they came up with one amazing sweet roll!

Sure, everyone loves a good Glazed Ham or Lamb Roast, but one of our favorite Easter traditions is making a memorable brunch. Use our Ultimate Easter Brunch Menu as your recipe guide and set the table for a celebration.

Looking For Other Great Holiday Recipes?

Certain dishes from my childhood are inseparably linked to the holidays: Mom’s Custard Pie at Thanksgiving, Pecan Pie Bars at Christmas, and Amish Chicken and Noodles for every family reunion. Try one at your next holiday gathering.