The earliest known cookbook recipe for cheese rolls dates from Dunedin's Roslyn Church Jubilee Cookery Book in 1951, with numerous other South Island community cookbooks listing the recipe in the decade that followed. Cheese rolls were not found in any North Island cookbooks, however, until the late 1970s, and the food is still little known north of Waitaki River.
The first recorded recipe for cheese rolls emerged in Dunedin's Roslyn Church Jubilee Cookery Book in 1951, with similar recipes appearing in other South Island community publications during the following years. Cheese rolls did not appear in North Island cookbooks until the late 1970s, and they remain a lesser-known food north of the Waitaki River.