Resurrection Rolls

After the excitement of finding their Easter baskets and before you’ve had a chance to finish your first cup of coffee, the kids will invariably complain, “I’m hungry!” This year, surprise them with a quick Easter treat and some fun in the kitchen: resurrection rolls!

What are resurrection rolls (aka empty tomb rolls)?

In the Christian tradition, resurrection rolls symbolize Jesus and the empty tomb after he was raised from the dead. Kids of all ages will wonder where the marshmallow went after biting into one of these warm, gooey puffs. That’s your opening for a little Easter morning Sunday school—they won’t even know that you’ve tried to wedge in a teaching moment because they’ll be transfixed by the comforting aroma of cinnamon that rivals any ooey-gooey cinnamon monkey bread.

Ingredients for Resurrection Rolls

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• Refrigerated crescent rolls
• Sugar
• Ground cinnamon
• Marshmallows
• Butter

Glaze:

• Confectioners’ sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Milk
• Chopped nuts

Directions

Step 1: Prepare the dough

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This might be the trickiest part of the recipe. Separating refrigerated crescent dough into triangles can be tedious, but take your time. Gently unroll the dough, then separate it into triangles along the perforations.

Arrange all of the triangles on a work surface. If there are any tears in the dough, do a quick press-and-patch job to seal them up. Don’t forget to preheat the oven to 375°F.

Step 2: Make the cinnamon-sugar mixture

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Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl, and add the melted butter to another shallow bowl.

Step 3: Coat the marshmallows

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Once you’re set up, dip the mallows into the butter, and then roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Editor’s Tip: To speed along the dunking and coating process (and for less mess), put the butter into a large sealable plastic container and the cinnamon sugar into another large container. Add marshmallows to the butter; cover and shake. Then transfer it to the cinnamon-sugar container; cover and shake.

Step 4: Wrap and roll

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Place one coated marshmallow at the wide end of each triangle of dough. Do this assembly line style, first coating and placing all the marshmallows before folding the dough around them so your fingers aren’t covered with cinnamon-sugar when it comes time to wrap the marshmallows.

Fold the corners of the dough over the marshmallow and roll up. You might need to stretch and pat the dough as you wrap it around each mallow. Pinch the seams to seal them tightly.

Step 5: Transfer the rolls

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Dip the bottoms in butter and place the rolls, buttered side down, into ungreased regular-sized muffin cups. Make the area with the most seams the “bottom.”

This is one of those unfortunate recipes that uses one muffin pan plus one partial muffin pan. If you want to use 2 full pans, increase the recipe by 50% (use one more tube of dough).

Editor’s Tip: Some people like to fill empty muffin cups with water to promote even baking. In this case, the crescent dough is pretty foolproof, so skip the water. The risk of sloshing water into a dough-filled muffin cup isn’t worth any small benefit.

Step 6: Bake

Pop them in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. You’re looking for a golden brown color and when the rolls pull away from the pans just slightly. While baking, the marshmallows will puff and melt, making the inside of the rolls a little ooey, a little gooey and a lot delicious. They’ll also disappear. (Hence the name…you get it, right?) Immediately remove them from the pans to a wire rack.

Editor’s Tip: Since there are two pans, it’s a smart idea to rotate them from top to bottom and front to back during baking. Wait until just after halfway, when the dough has had a chance to set up and is less likely to deflate from the movement.

Step 7: Glaze

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Combine the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla plus enough milk to make the glaze thin enough to drizzle (almond extract would taste great, too, but use just 1/4 teaspoon). I like to use a small whisk for mixing to make sure there are no lumps, but you can use a spoon. A whisk also works great as a drizzling tool.

Sprinkle with nuts (try chopped walnuts or pecans) and serve them while they’re still warm.

Resurrection Rolls Tips

Are resurrection rolls easy for kids to make?

Kids love making these cinnamon treats as much as they like eating them. Their little hands will make quick work of all the dipping, dunking and rolling.

When do you eat resurrection rolls?

Serve them as an early morning treat or add them to your Easter brunch buffet. Either way, you’ll love the sweet cinnamon flavor of these resurrection rolls, and guests will never know there was once a marshmallow inside!