• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Recipes
    • Breads and Muffins
    • Dessert
      • Bars and Slices
      • Biscuits and Cookies
      • Cakes and Cupcakes
      • Puddings
    • Pies and Tarts
    • Savoury
    • South African Recipes
  • About
  • Products
  • Contact

Salty Ginger

menu icon
go to homepage
  • HOME
  • RECIPES
  • ABOUT
  • PRODUCTS
  • SUBSCRIBE
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Substack
    • Threads
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • HOME
    • RECIPES
    • ABOUT
    • PRODUCTS
    • SUBSCRIBE
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Substack
    • Threads
  • ×
    • Honey mustard chicken with thyme on top
      Honey Mustard Chicken Bake
    • Caramelised Onion and Chilli pasta with lemon and parsley
      Caramelised Onion and Chilli Pasta
    • Cooked chicken with vegetables in a bowl with creamy sauce on top
      Creamy Garlic and Paprika Chicken
    • Tuscan-Chicken-Thighs-recipe-feature-image
      Tuscan Chicken Thighs
    • Oatmeal chocolate chip cookie broken in half.
      Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
    • Oatmeal cookies with raisins on a baking tray.
      Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
    • Sliced banana date loaf on a wooden plate.
      Banana Date Loaf
    • White chocolate and lemon cookies on a baking tray.
      Lemon and White Chocolate Cookies
    • Cheesecake with a biscuit base.
      Biscuit Base
    • Blueberry cinnamon rolls with blueberry frosting in a baking dish.
      Homemade Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
    • Lemon poppy sedd scones on a wooden board.
      Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
    • Slice of cheesecake next to the full cheesecake on a serving board.
      The Perfect New York Cheesecake
    Home | Recipes | Savoury

    Published: May 8, 2022 · Updated: Sep 30, 2022 by Angie Dixon ·

    Mini Cheese Rolls (Cheese Puffs)

    jump to recipe Pin
    Mini cheese rolls on a platter.

    These easy, homemade puff pastry mini cheese rolls come together very quickly. They are like sausage rolls but made with a delicious cheese filling that makes a great little addition to the finger snack buffet.

    This particular recipe was inspired by the mini cheese rolls or cheese puffs that are sold by Todays and Woolworths South Africa. At Woolies, you can buy the baked cheese puffs from the pie and rotisserie chicken counter, and they now also sell a box of frozen cheese puffs.

    Mini Cheese Rolls on a Platter

    Mini cheese rolls and mini sausage rolls have long been part of the "finger food" buffet in my house growing up. And there is something super more-ish about a cheese roll. The idea to mimic these little tasty cheese bombs has been rattling around in my head for quite some time now!

    Jump to:
    • Reverse Engineering This Recipe
    • Ingredients
    • How to Make Mini Cheese Rolls
    • Pro Tips for this Recipe
    • Storage and Freezing
    • Rate & Review!
    • Recipe Card
    • Community Comments

    Reverse Engineering This Recipe

    I started with reading the ingredients on both the Today's Mini Cheese Rolls and the Woolie's Cheese Puffs. They were both very similar, but what surprised me is that there was only 5% cheese in the Today's rolls and 15% cheese in the Woolies puffs.

    The main ingredients (being those in a larger quantity) were water and milk. Which immediately made me think that some sort of thick roux/cheese sauce must be what gives these rolls their creamy flavour.

    So my first rendition of the recipe started with making a roux using 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 tablespoons of flour, 250ml of milk, 40 grams of cheese, salt and pepper. Then I added more flour during the cooking process to make the sauce thicker. Popped the cooled sauce onto the Puff Pastry and baked it off.

    It was okay. It wasn't creamy. So while laying in bed I thought to myself - lets up the cheese content and make a filling that doesn't need to be cooked and cooled before being placed in the puff pastry. Which lead me to this final rendition!

    Ingredients

    Here are some notes on the ingredients used in this recipe. Please see the recipe card for quantities.

    Mini cheese rolls ingredients.
    • Ready Rolled Puff Pastry - I used Edmond's puff pastry, which I find is the superior puff pastry in New Zealand. In South Africa, I probably would have bought Woolies or even Today's Puff Pastry.
    • Cheddar cheese - I used Tasty cheese which is New Zealand's everyday answer to a mature cheddar. I am fairly certain that a cheese-like Edam, a Gouda or maybe even a low-water content mozzarella would work in this instance. But I was looking for maximum cheese flavour.
    • Butter to add a little richness to the puff.
    • Flour, eggs and milk to bring everything together, and to thicken the filling during the baking.
    • Cream cheese to add a little creaminess to the filling.
    • Salt and pepper for seasoning.

    Weighing Ingredients

    Weighing & Measuring Ingredients

    Weighing ingredients with a kitchen scale is more accurate than using measuring cups. All my recipes are developed and tested using grams only.

    However, I have activated the metric-to-cup conversions. Simply click on "cups" or "metric" for your preferred measurements. For these conversions, cups are equal to 240 millilitres/8 fluid ounces, tablespoons are 15 milliliters and teaspoons are 5mL.

    How to Make Mini Cheese Rolls

    Step 1 - Allow the eggs, cream cheese and milk to come to room temperature. Zapping the cream cheese in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time will help it soften quicker.

    Step 2 - Preheat oven to 170°C/340F. Line two baking trays with baking paper and set aside.

    Step 3 - Melt the butter either in the microwave or on the stovetop over low heat. Add in the flour and milk and whisk to combine.

    Step 4 - Add the two eggs, salt, pepper and cream cheese to the butter mixture and whisk to combine.

    Step 5 - Fold the grated cheese into the mixture. Set aside.

    Step 6 - To make the mini cheese rolls, the puff pastry must be cut into lengths (which measure in total about 95cm long) about 12cm wide. In a small bowl, beat an egg with a fork.

    Cheese filling placed on the puff pastry.

    Step 7 - Place the filling in the centre of the length, about 3cm wide and 1.5-2cm high.

    Unbaked cheese rolls crimped and cut.

    Step 8 - Brush one side of the long edge of the pastry with milk, water or a beaten egg about 2cm wide. Fold the pastry over the cheese filling and press the long edges together. Using a fork, crimp the edges together. Then using a sharp knife, cut the pastry into mini rolls, about 4cm wide.

    Cheese rolls in a baking tray and brushed with a beaten egg.

    Step 9 - Place the mini rolls onto the prepared baking trays, brush the tops with a beaten egg and bake for about 20 minutes until the pastry is a nice golden brown.

    Cheese roll being dipped into wholegrain mustard.

    Step 10 - Allow the rolls to cool slightly before serving. These pair really well with mustard, sweet chilli sauce or even a really good tomato sauce.

    Pro Tips for this Recipe

    Want a mini cheese and onion roll? Finely dice and sauté half an onion, allow to cool and fold into the filling with the cheese in step 5.

    Want to make these mini cheese rolls ahead of an event? Follow the instructions up to step 8, then place the cheese rolls into the fridge covered with cling film and plastic wrap the day before. Bake off just before the event!

    Ovens

    The temperatures stated are for conventional ovens. For convection, fan-forced, fan-assisted, or air-fryers, the temperature must be reduced by 20°C/25°F.

    For baking, make sure the oven is fully preheated, and that the rack is in the middle of the oven. Open the oven as little as possible. For best baking results use an oven thermometer.

    Remember that all ovens work slightly differently and bake times may need to be adjusted for your specific oven.

    Storage and Freezing

    Baked sausage rolls will keep in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

    Mini Cheese Rolls on a serving platter.

    Rate & Review!

    If you made this recipe, please leave a star rating! It gives my readers and me helpful feedback. If you want more recipes, subscribe to my newsletter, and follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!

    Recipe Card

    Mini cheese rolls on a serving platter.

    Mini Cheese Rolls

    Angie Dixon
    These easy, homemade puff pastry mini cheese rolls come together very quickly. They are like sausage rolls but made with a delicious cheese filling that makes a great little addition to the finger snack buffet.
    4.7 from 3 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Email Recipe Save Recipe Saved!
    Prep time.Prep Time 20 minutes mins
    Cook time.Cook Time 20 minutes mins
    CourseCourse Appetizer, Snack
    CuisineCuisine South African
    Servings 24 rolls

    Equipment

    • Pastry brush
    • Baking Tray

    Ingredients
     
     

    Mini Cheese Rolls

    • 60 grams butter
    • 80 grams plain flour
    • 2 tablespoons milk
    • 2 large eggs
    • 75 grams cream cheese
    • ½ teaspoon table salt
    • ½ teaspoon ground black or white pepper
    • 120 grams cheddar cheese grated
    • 300 grams ready rolled puff pastry
    • 1 large egg beaten for pastry wash
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Step 1 - Allow the eggs, cream cheese and milk to come to room temperature. Zapping the cream cheese in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time will help it soften quicker.
      2 large eggs, 75 grams cream cheese, 2 tablespoons milk
    • Preheat oven to 170°C/340F. Line two baking trays with baking paper and set aside.
    • Melt the butter either in the microwave or on the stovetop over low heat. Add in the flour and milk and whisk to combine.
      60 grams butter, 80 grams plain flour
    • Add the two eggs, salt, pepper and cream cheese to the butter mixture and whisk to combine.
      2 large eggs, 75 grams cream cheese, ½ teaspoon table salt, ½ teaspoon ground black or white pepper
    • Fold the grated cheese into the mixture. Set aside.
      120 grams cheddar cheese
    • To make the mini cheese rolls, the puff pastry must be cut into lengths (which measure in total about 95cm long) about 12cm wide. In a small bowl, beat an egg with a fork.
      300 grams ready rolled puff pastry
    • Place the filling in the centre of the length, about 3cm wide and 1.5-2cm high.
    • Brush one side of the long edge of the pastry the beaten egg about 2cm wide. Fold the pastry over the cheese filling and press the long edges together. Using a fork, crimp the edges together. Then using a sharp knife, cut the pastry into mini rolls, about 4cm wide.
      1 large egg
    • Place the mini rolls onto the prepared baking trays, brush the tops with a beaten egg and bake for about 20 minutes until the pastry is a nice golden brown.
    • Allow the rolls to cool slightly before serving. These pair really well with mustard, sweet chilli sauce or even a really good tomato sauce.

    Notes

    Want a mini cheese and onion roll? Finely dice and sauté half an onion, allow to cool and fold into the filling with the cheese in step 5.
    Want to make these mini cheese rolls ahead of an event? Follow the instructions up to step 8, then place the cheese rolls into the fridge covered with cling film and plastic wrap the day before. Bake off just before the event!
    Baked sausage rolls will keep in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1roll | Calories: 140kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 10g | Sodium: 148mg

    Nutrition information is an estimate. If scaling the recipe remember to scale your cook and bakeware accordingly. All temperatures stated are conventional, unless otherwise stated. Recipes tested in grams and at sea level.

    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
    « Easy Vanilla Tray Bake
    Biltong »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    No Comments

    Leave a question, comment, or review :) Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Mini cheese rolls on a platter.

    Welcome to Salty Ginger

    Hi, I’m Angie Dixon, the cook, photographer, and creator behind Salty Ginger! Here, you will find easy-to-follow recipes for the home cook and baker!

    More about me →

    Let's Keep in Touch!

    Popular Recipes


    These are the most popular recipes on Salty Ginger right now!

    • Condensed milk cookies on a baking sheet.
      Condensed Milk Biscuits (Cookies)
    • Peppermint crisp tart in a serving dish, with a serving spoon, sprinkled with pieces of peppermint crisp.
      Peppermint Crisp Tart
    • Slice of milk tart on a plate with a piece on a fork.
      No-Bake Milk Tart
    • Buttermilk rusks on a plate.
      Buttermilk Rusks (Karringmelk Beskuit)

    Father's Day Recipes


    Are you looking to spoil your dad this coming Father's Day? Here are a few recipes to make him feel special!

    • Biscoff brownie propped on another brownie to show fudgy center.
      Easy Swirled Biscoff Brownies
    • Sliced Biscoff blondie showing the swirl of Biscoff spread through the blondie.
      Biscoff Blondies
    • Sliced tomato puff pastry tart showing cheese, tomatoes and red onion.
      Tomato Puff Pastry Tart
    • Three lemon bars stacked on each other with a dusting of icing sugar.
      Easy Lemon Slice

    Let's Get Social


    Footer

    Mini cheese rolls on a platter.

    ↑ back to top

    About

    Contact

    Products I Use

    Recipes

    Subscribe

    • https://www.facebook.com/marylousaltyginger
    • https://www.instagram.com/marylou_saltyginger/
    • Threads
    • https://www.pinterest.nz/marylou_saltyginger/_created/

    Privacy Policy

    Terms of Use

    Photo and Recipe Policy

    COPYRIGHT © 2024 SALTY GINGER | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

    222 shares

    Rate This Recipe

    Your vote:




    A rating is required
    A name is required
    An email is required