Easter Series: Resurrection Rolls

I love Easter! You may have gathered that from the Easter series I’ve been sharing over the past six weeks. This year, especially, I feel drawn to the hope and renewal that the spirit of Easter brings. Maybe I’ve just been noticing more this year, but I’ve been blown away by the beautiful spring blossoms, daffodils, tulips and the beauty of life rising from the dark ground of winter. During this difficult time in our world right now, we are all in need of the hope of a bright spring coming after a long winter.

Jump to Resurrection Roll Recipe

Symbolism of Resurrection Rolls

Resurrection rolls celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They are a wonderful way to share the story of the resurrection with your family. When Jesus died, his body was wrapped in linen cloth and anointed with sweet spices before having the tomb sealed shut. Three days later, the stone was rolled away and Jesus’s body was gone. He was resurrected and later appeared first to Mary Magdalene as the resurrected Christ. As we make these rolls on Easter morning, we talk about the symbolism of these events. The dough represents the tomb. We take a marshmallow (representing the white linens and Jesus’s body) and roll the marshmallow in the sweet spices (cinnamon) and “oils” (melted butter). We then seal up the dough and allow it to rise for 30 minutes, explaining that the actual wait was 3 days. After the rolls have risen and puffed up we bake them. During the baking process the marshmallow melts and forms a delicious sweetness to the inside of the roll and when you bite open the roll, the marshmallow is gone (dissolved), just as Jesus’s body was risen on that first Easter morning.

Christ-Centered Easter Tradition

I love the symbolism of these rolls and I especially love the teaching that happens as we make these rolls on Easter. I first introduced these rolls when I was a relatively new mama. I had been searching online for “Christ-centered-Easter ideas” and these rolls were one of the few things I found that really spoke to me. Some people use a canned biscuit or canned sweet dough for their rolls and if you are in a time pinch, you can definitely do that, though these rolls only take about an hour start to finish, including the rise time so you can definitely make them on Easter morning. I like to set up an assembly line with a small bowl of melted butter, a small bowl of cinnamon and the marshmallows and my kids now know the symbolism so well that they tell the story or we read from the Bible as we make them.

Just About an Hour Start to Finish

These Resurrection Rolls can be made with any favorite roll dough, but I love this recipe. It is based off my one hour or less yeast roll recipe and tastes absolutely delicious. Knead the dough for about 8 minutes, roll them up and let them rise for only 30 minutes before popping them in the oven and enjoying a delicious Easter breakfast. This recipe makes these rolls perfect for a busy holiday morning and they taste delicious too. There’s nothing better than a freshly made yeast roll in my opinion!

Marshmallow Transformation

When the heat hits the marshmallow, the marshmallow transforms back into a clear sweet glaze coating the inside of the roll and leaving a hole in the middle. If the rolls are not pinched together very well, the marshmallow will ooze out and leak all over the pan as it’s going through this process. If the marshmallows do leak, the rolls will still taste delicious. Just move the rolls to a serving platter or plate before serving. I seem to get a mixture of oozy marshmallows and non-oozing ones no matter how hard I try and pinch the rolls closed. They are delicious either way and the “empty tomb” is just so fun to bite into!

Happy Easter!

I hope that however you choose to celebrate Easter this year that you will feel the hope, love and power of our Savior Jesus Christ. He has the power to take any of our weaknesses and make them strengths. He has the power to help us out of the dark winter and bring us into a beautiful spring. He has the power so that when we die, it’s not the end. “He is not here; for he is risen, as he said” Matthew 28:6

Resurrection Rolls

Resurrection rolls are the perfect Easter morning breakfast to teach the Easter story and enjoy a delicious, sweet, quick yeast roll.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 25

Rise Time 30

Course Bread, Breakfast, rolls

Cuisine American

Servings 12 rolls

Ingredients

1 1/3 cup milk warmed to the temperature of baby's bathwater
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted

1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons instant yeast
2 teaspoons salt

2 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 3/4- 3 1/4 cup bread flour see recipe note

Resurrection Roll Filling

12 marshmallows

2 Tablespoons melted butter
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

To the bowl of a stand mixer, add the warm milk (make sure this is the temperature of a baby's bathwater…so as not to kill the yeast), melted butter, sugar, yeast and salt.
Add the cornstarch and 2 3/4 cups of flour to the center of the bowl. Knead using the dough hook. Alternatively you can mix the ingredients together in a bowl and knead the dough on your countertop by hand for about 10 minutes. If using a dough hook, knead the dough for about 8 minutes, adding the extra half cup of flour as needed. You should be able to pinch off a chunk of dough, roll it into a ball in your fingers with just a little sticky residue left behind. You can check out this blog post for how to check for readiness of dough if you need some guidance.
Line a baking sheet (my favorite here, affiliate link) with parchment paper. Turn the dough out and cut into 12 equal pieces.

Mix together the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. Melt the butter in another small bowl. Take a piece of dough and stretch it into a small circle with your fingers. Dip a marshmallow into the butter and then into the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Place the marshmallow into the center of the dough and pinch the dough around the marshmallow, forming a ball.
Place the dough ball onto the baking sheet and repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.
Cover the dough balls and let rise for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Bake until the rolls are lightly golden on top for about 22-25 minutes. Top with melted butter if desired.
Remove rolls to a serving plate and enjoy opening the rolls and finding the “empty” tomb on Easter morning. These rolls are best eaten warm. Enjoy!

Notes

Bread Flour: This recipe works best with bread flour. You can substitute one Tablespoon of vital wheat gluten and all purpose flour for the bread flour. Alternatively you can use all purpose flour but you may need a little extra flour due to the lower protein content.

Transforming Marshmallows: When the heat hits the marshmallow, the marshmallow transforms back into a clear sweet glaze coating the inside of the roll and leaving a hole in the middle. If the rolls are not pinched together very well, the marshmallow will ooze out and leak all over the pan as it’s going through this process. If the marshmallows do leak, the rolls will still taste delicious. Just move the rolls to a serving platter or plate before serving.

Original Recipe: Originally I posted a recipe for resurrection rolls using a different roll recipe. This recipe works much better because it can be made start to finish in just about an hour. You can use any favorite roll recipe if you want.

Keyword Easter, quick rolls, rolls, yeast rolls,

I hope you enjoy these rolls as much as our family does. I am looking forward to the simplicity of Easter this year, and while we will definitely be dying eggs and participating in a family-style Easter egg hunt, we will also be focusing on our Savior, Jesus Christ and his victory over death, because that means that we can have that victory too.

Thank you so much for following along with my Easter series this year! If you want to check out any of the other delicious Easter breads to make this weekend: Czech Mazanec, Ukrainian Easter Paska, Pane di Pasqua (Italian Easter bread), Hot Cross Buns, or Bunny Rolls. Whatever you choose to bake, I hope it’s delicious and brings many beautiful Easter memories.

Check out all the recipes from my Easter series linked above

Please share this recipe if you enjoyed it! Post a photo and tag me @amybakesbread so I can see your bake 🙂

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Amy

Only posting the best recipes to make you a rockstar in the kitchen.

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Follow me on Instagram @amybakesbread, like Amy Bakes Bread on Facebook or follow me on Pinterest for more baking ideas. Please share this recipe if you enjoyed it! Post a photo and tag me @amybakesbread so I can see your bake.

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