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:
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
..I’ve been looking to buy some nutritional yeast for popcorn and i guess for these goldfish as well… suggestions on places?
I have to say that I’m not much a of cheesy snacker… recently no added sugar persimmon cinnamon chocolate chip cookies have been my “go-to”..
They have a bunch of different kinds of nooch on iherb.com 🙂 That’s where I get a lot of my specialty foods, because they are inexpensive and shipping is usually free.
Terri Romano and Isa Chandra Moskowitz, in their book “Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar,” have a copycat recipe for Milano cookies. They call them “Mo-Mos” or something of that nature.
Yummy! I jumped up and made these the moment I saw this recipe today and they are dee-licious! I will probably back off the salt a little bit next time for myself, but you did warn me! 😉 I didn’t have any tumeric so I opted for a pinch of paprika
Thank you so much for trying them!
OMG these are so perfect! We are vegetarian, not vegan, and my mother got my son Nicholas addicted to “whole grain” Goldfish, of which I do not approve <_< (Thanks, mom) I've been looking for a satisfactory copycat recipe- and now I have one! You are a mind-reader, Katie! Thank you so much!