One fish.
Two fish.
Red fish.
Blue fish.
Say! What a lot of fish there are.
-Dr Seuss
Quoting a beloved childhood author seemed a fitting way to begin a post about a beloved childhood snack: goldfish crackers! Or, as Pepperidge Farm says, they are “the snack that smiles back.”
I drew on the smiles.
But these homemade goldfish crackers—filled with whole grains, fiber, vitamins, and deliciousness—are surely smiling inside.
The recipe was inspired by (and heavily adapted from) an adorable cookbook called Classic Snacks Made from Scratch, by Casey Barber. Her recipes are neither vegan nor particularly healthy; but the photos are super-cute, and I love flipping through the book for ideas. Next on my “healthy makeover” list are Klondike Bars, pudding pops, and Milano Cookies. Today, we are going with the goldfish: they taste more rustic (and less “fake”) than goldfish crackers from a store, yet they are just as delicious!
Healthy White Cheddar Vegan Goldfish
- 1 cup spelt or all-purpose flour (Bob’s gluten-free will work here) (130g)
- 1 1/8 tsp salt (If you don’t like salty crackers, decrease to 3/4 tsp)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- optional: pinch turmeric for color
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp milk of choice (75g)
- 3 tbsp coconut or vegetable oil (30g)
Preheat oven to 375 F. Combine first five ingredients in a bowl, and stir together. Mix in remaining ingredients until evenly incorporated. Transfer to bag and smush into a ball, then roll out between two sheets of parchment paper. Cut goldfish shapes, either with a goldfish cookie cutter or with a knife. (I cut them out carefully with a knife. After the first few, I gave up with the goldfish and cut the rest out with a circle cookie cutter.) Cook on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 10-11 minutes. The yield will depend on the size of the cookie cutter you use (about 150 of the size shown in the photos). Thicker dough means puffier crackers; thinner dough yields crispier crackers.
Question of the Day:
Do you like Goldfish crackers?
Cheeze-Its, Cheez Doodles, and Goldfish were some of my sister’s favorite snacks when we were growing up. Me? I rarely ate any non-chocolate snack foods. I have a theory that my sister subconsciously developed a taste for salty, cheesy snacks as a defense mechanism when I refused to share any of the chocolate!
Link of the Day:
Yum. If I ever have kids, I’ll make these for them, since they’re healthy and all. Then maybe they won’t steal my Cheez-its…
I never really liked goldfish crackers, but these look so cute, I think I might have to make them. You said they don’t taste “fake”, though, so they’ll probably be great! I like Annie’s chocolate chip bunny grahams, they’re delicious!
P.S. For my English class we had to write evaluation essays this week, and I evaluated Chocolate-Covered Katie! It was hard because there are so many great things about the site, but a 525 word limit 🙂 🙁
This is just plain adorable. I used to love munching on goldfish as a kid, but they were always so processed… I’m definitely gonna to try this 🙂 Thanks, CCK!
These look so delicious! I used to be the biggest Goldfish fiend but I haven’t had any in so long, I’ll have to whip these up soon!
What serving size did you use for the nutritional information?
Oh my goodness! This is EXACTLY what I have been looking for! Thank you SO SO SO much! I am DEFINITELY going to make these after I decide what to cookie-cut them with! I am very excited now! Thanks again, Katie! 😀
These look super interesting!
But, I love anything with nutritional yeast so they look like a win for me.
I love how cute they are ha, so creative.
I always loved goldfish crackers and those graham bunnies at the grocery store. Those were my top picks!
Ha-ha, Katie, I like your theory about why your sister developed a taste for salty things. I wonder what sort of an impact I had on my younger sisters’ preferences (though, terrible to admit: she used to LOVE this snack called “Snappea Crisps” when we were little, but after I *gasp* showed her my mouthful of the chewed up snack, she was grossed out and didn’t touch them for YEARS. I felt so bad . . .)
Anyways – I used to LOVE goldfish very much – they’re so darned cute! Now I need to make these . . . Maybe I’ll add beet juice and spinach to make some colored ones!
I saw someone cut up a soda can to make their own cookie cutters. This is for a non-vegan goldfish cracker, but the cookie cutter could be used for this recipe:
http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2011/09/homemade-goldfish-crackers/
This is awesome! I recently wrote about how Goldfish are not very healthy at all and my readers were asking for a homemade version. I am going to link yours to that post! I can’t wait to try it with my girls.
These look great Katie, thanks! I used to love goldfish as a kid 🙂
Hi Katie! Just wondering, are these supposed to have any vegan cheddar in them? It isn’t listed in the ingredients, but I would imagine that they have some sort of vegan cheese product in them to make them taste like goldfish!
that’s where the nutritional yeast comes in, it gives our the cheddar cheese flavor. 🙂 the bulk bins at most health food stores have it! sprinkle on popcorn or anything you want for chest flavor!
Excuse my vegan ignorance….however, is there white cheddar in the “Healthy White Cheddar Vegan Goldfish?” or does the cheddar type flavor come from the nutritional yeast?? They look yummy, and I would like to try them…just do not see the cheddar in the recipe.
Yes, the nutritional yeast has a “cheesy” flavor and is used to replace traditional milk-based cheeses.
Also, and excellent source of B12 for vegans.
Thanks, Karen! I learn something new every day! Cannot wait to give these a try. 🙂
I’m also new to using coconut oil (my first time was with your homemade chocolate recipe, which was AMAZING by the way!) So if using coconut oil, is it 3 tbsp of the solid stuff or melted down?
I always melt it first (unless I’ve specifically stated “solid” in a recipe). I live in Texas, so mine is usually liquid anyway! 😉
Great, thanks Katie! 🙂
Can’t wait to try these for my toddler! Any idea how long the shelf life is? Can I freeze the dough if I make it in big batches? Or the crackers? Sorry, I’m new to baking, especially with bread/crackers.
I haven’t tried freezing the dough. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work, as most cookie dough can be frozen. But I can’t say for sure, since I haven’t tried it.
What do you use to calculate your recipes nutritional info?? I’ve found some apps that are WAYYY off.
Caloriecount. And yes, sometimes you have to watch it and figure things out by hand. Some items are listed incorrectly (such as canned beans or rolled oats). Definitely keep in mind that a free online calculators provide a general guideline but are rarely 100% accurate.
Wait do these actually have cheese in them?
The nutritional yeast provides the cheesy flavour