If your kids love classic Goldfish Crackers, then you'll want to try this homemade version! These Homemade Goldfish Crackers for Kids are crisp, cheesy, and made with simple ingredients that you can make at home. They have that familiar cheesy flavour kids love, with a little nutrition boost from hemp hearts and nutritional yeast.
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I’m on a bit of a quest to try and reduce our packaged snacks and have more homemade options. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not here to demonize packaged snacks, their convenience is incredibly useful at times. However, I do find it can be easy to start over-relying on them 😬. As a dietitian, I also think it’s important to acknowledge that homemade snacks take more time and energy, and they won’t always be the right fit for every family or every time of your life. But what I’ve realized, though, is that when you do have the time and interest, it’s actually fairly straightforward to make a lot of homemade versions of classic store-bought options at home.
These crackers are part of my Homemade Snacks: Copycat Favourites series, where I’ll be sharing homemade versions of familiar, kid-loved snacks, not as a replacement for packaged foods, but as another option families can choose from when it makes sense.
Table of Contents
Ingredients for Homemade Goldfish Crackers for Toddlers
Here is what you will need to make these homemade Goldfish Crackers - only 5 ingredients (plus water)!
- Flour - Regular All Purpose
- Butter - cold, not melted!
- Cheddar Cheese - use a good cheddar cheese. Don't use a pre-shredded one. Those have anti-caking agents in them which impacts the texture of these crackers. You'll notice I used a white cheddar, so the crackers won't be quite as "gold", but you can definitely use an orange cheddar and the crackers will be more orange in colour!
- Nutritional Yeast - A great way to boost vitamin B12 and adds a yummy umami flavour. If you don't have this, don't worry, you can just omit it!
- Hemp hearts - A little added fibre and omega 3 fats.
- Ice water
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Here is an overview on how to make these Goldfish Crackers from scratch. It's actually quite simple!
Add the flour, butter, cheddar cheese, hemp hearts and nutritional yeast to a food processor. Pulse until it makes a crumbly mixture.
Add 1-2 tbsps of ice water to the food processor, pulse until it starts to form a dough. It will still look crumbly, and that's ok.
Pour the mixture into a bowl and gently knead it until it forms a ball. Wrap in saran wrap and place in the fridge for 10 minutes. (time to get the oven heating and clean up!)
Get the dough from the fridge and on a floured surface, with a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough into ¼ inch thick. Cut out into little fish shapes (or other shapes that you like). Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 10-14 minutes, until lightly brown.
Real Mom Talk: Ok, so I'm not going to pretend that I love cutting the dough into all of these small little fish shapes. It's a bit tedious and tests my patience. However, I did just realize that there are one piece cutters that cut out 25 fish at once! So that might be a good option. OR you can treat this as an opportunity for your child to help cut out the shapes (because they seem to love this!), or throw on some music or a podcast to help get you through it 😂.
Substitutions
I tried to swap in a whole wheat flour and the crackers came out awful, no matter what I tried. Some recipes are better left with regular flour! Here in Canada, our All Purpose Flour is fortified, so you are getting some added B vitamins.
If you don't have any nutritional yeast or hemp hearts, you can just omit them, they are just there as little nutrition boosters and increase the cheesy flavour a bit but the crackers are still excellent without them.
If you're looking for other yummy snack options, check out these 25+ easy and healthy snack ideas for toddlers or my full Homemade Snacks: Copycat Favourites!
Equipment
- Food processor
- Fish cutter, this cookie cutter set has an individual fish as one of the many cutters or you can get a one piece cutter that does 25 fish at once. I haven't used the one piece before, but sounds like it works well but can be a pain to clean.
Storage
These crackers can be kept in an air tight container at room temperature for ~5 days. They must lose a little of their crunchiness over time.
Toddler Tip
Kids love pressing the cutters into the dough to form different shapes! This is a great recipe to involve your toddler with this step. These crackers don't have to only be goldfish, you can make any other shapes you like. My kids love making dino shaped crackers!
FAQ
No, the main flavour that comes through is the cheddar cheese. The nutritional yeast and hemp hearts add a little nutrition boost without noticeably changing the taste.
Once fully cooled, store the crackers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5-6 days.
Recipe
Homemade Goldfish Crackers for Kids
Equipment
- 1 Food processor
- 1 Goldfish cutter
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 cups cheddar cheese sharp, (don't used pre-shredded!)
- 4 tbsps butter
- 2 tbsps hemp hearts
- 2 tbsps nutritional yeast
- 2-3 tablespoon ice cold water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a food processor, add the flour, cheddar cheese, nutritional yeast, hemp hearts, and cold butter. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add the cold water, one tablespoon at a time, just until the dough starts to form a bit. It will still be crumbly.
- Transfer the dough to a bowl or surface and knead to form it into a ball. Cover with saran wrap and place in the fridge for ten minutes.
- Remove the dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll it out until about ¼-inch thick.Use a small fish-shaped cutter (or any small cutter) to cut out crackers and place them on the parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 12–14 minutes, or until the crackers are lightly golden and crisp. Be careful not to over cook them, they can burn quickly!
- Let cool completely on the baking sheet, they will continue to crisp as they cool.
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