Dairy-Free Easter Bread Recipe (aka Vegan Celebration Rolls)

Each year, my family makes two different dairy-free Easter bread recipes over the course of the holiday weekend. One of them is a from-scratch yeast bread recipe, and the other is an easy sweet roll assembled from prepackaged ingredients, giving you a choice of whichever recipe fits your Easter schedule best. I hope you enjoy trying one or both of them with your family.

Dairy-Free Easter Bread Recipe - a family tradition

Dairy-Free Easter Bread with a True Surprise in the Middle

My husband is in charge of the Dairy-Free Hot Cross Buns, a yeast-based Easter bread recipe that is traditionally served on Good Friday. The second bread recipe, Dairy-Free Easter Celebration Rolls (recipe below), is admittedly simple. But that’s what I want for Easter morning when we’re fitting in time for Easter baskets surprises, the neighborhood Easter egg hunt, and getting dressed up to stand still and look happy for one! photo! please! to make Mom happy before rushing off to church.

These rolls are an Easter bread adaptation of the winning Pillsbury Bake-Off recipe from 1969, Magic Marshmallow Crescent Puffs. A friend of mine gave me the idea to serve them on Easter morning. It’s really fun to make them with children – they are always amazed that the marshmallow you wrap in the dough “disappears” when the rolls are baked. The “empty” rolls are a great representation of the empty tomb on Easter morning. And, they taste great.

Dairy-Free Easter Bread Recipe - a family tradition

Special Diet Notes: Easter Bread

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, nut-free, peanut-free, optionally soy-free, optionally vegan, and optionally vegetarian.

Easy Easter Celebration Rolls

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

30 mins

Author: Sarah Hatfield

Serves: 16 rolls

Ingredients

¼ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 packages of dairy-free refrigerated crescent rolls (such as Pillsbury)
16 large marshmallows (can use vegan marshmallows for gelatin-free)
¼ cup dairy-free margarine, melted

Instructions

Heat your oven to 375ºF.
Spray 16 muffin cups with dairy-free cooking spray (can skip if using silicone cups).
In a small bowl, mix the sugar, flour, and cinnamon.
Separate the dough into 16 triangles.
One at at time, dip each marshmallow in margarine then in the sugar mixture.
Wrap each marshmallow in a triangle of dough, beginning at the small point and carefully sealing the edges.
Place foil or a cookie sheet under the pans to guard against spills.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the crescents are golden brown.
Let them cool in the pan for one minute.
Remove the rolls to racks to cool completely.