Crispy crunchy cheesy bites
some would call this a homemade goldfish, but they would be wrong
Goldfish have always been that girl for me. The little smile, the thin layer of salt that is ALWAYS strategically placed upside down onto my tongue, and the frankly addictive nature of them is a full-blown obsession.
So, being the obsessed little freak I am, I won’t be like a lot of the internet and lie to you. These taste nothing like goldfish, but they are a cheesy, crispy, addicting little cracker, so I’ll take them! They are perhaps even better - although there is something about an ultra-processed snack that really shines. These have a stronger cheese flavor, a flakier texture, and taste like your grandma who really loves you made them. You can’t go wrong either way, but these are fun and easy, and you’ll impress yourself.
Now, I want to state very clearly that this is not my recipe, however I am still sharing it here. Why? Because the recipe as written wasn’t effective for me, and there are approximately 30 recipes for these, all essentially identical. So unfortunately, I do want you to make these, but can’t exactly point you to one source with confidence. However, with some small tweaks, these turned out beautifully!
Below is a variation on this recipe from girl vs dough.
Ingredients:
8oz cheddar cheese, shredded by hand (do not buy the pre-shredded, it has other stuff and will mess with the recipe!)
57g (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2 in cubes
120g (1 cup) all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
2 tbsp cold water
sea salt (for topping)
Method:
Preheat your oven to 350 F and line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a food processor, pulse together your cheese, butter, flour, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder until it looks like a corse, sandy mixture. While pulsing, slowly add your water and continue to pulse until a rough dough forms, but isn’t completely clumped up yet.
Transfer the mix to plastic wrap and press into a round. Wrap tightly and refrigerate 20 minutes (up to a day).
Roll out to be around 1/8-1/4 an inch thick and cut out shapes. You can use a small cookie cutter like I did, or a bottle cap, icing tip, or any small round. You can also cut into squares. Press together remaining dough and roll out again, repeating until you have cut out all of the dough. Place on a baking sheet 1/4 - 1/2 inch apart.
Sprinkle sea salt on top and bake the first batch (1-2 sheets) for 20 minutes, until puffed and golden. Bake the remaining crackers while first batch cools. After the second batch is done, bake the first batch again for another 10ish minutes until deeply golden and crisp, and then repeat with second batch. They will be a little soft right out of the oven, but they should be fully crisp when cooled. Continue baking for another 5-10 minutes if the inside is still soft at all. Cool on sheets and then store in an airtight container.