The boys say the flavor is closer to Cheez-Its than Goldfish, but either way they are delicious!
I used King Arthur Flour’s recipe for Cheese Pennies from their Baker’s Companion cookbook.
This is our version to make the Goldfish.
2 cups finely grated sharp cheddar cheese
8 tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
a generous 1/8 tsp Ground Red Chipotle

In a bowl, combine all ingredients to make a dough that sticks together. Add one teaspoon of water at a time if necessary, just enough to make the dough squeeze together. Squish the dough together and it should be a nice consistency, like playdough. Which is great because the next part is playing with the dough!

Divide the dough into a couple pieces. We made two small 1/2″ logs for “bubbles” and three 1 1/4″ logs to make the fish. To make the gold fish, work with one log at a time.
1 Pinch the length of the top for the mouth end of the fish.

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3 For the tail, carefully slit about 1/4″ into the round side of the log.
4. Pinch the two sides of the slit you made in the log to form the two tail fins.
5 As you pinch the fins out, also press at the base of the fin to form the fish body shape.
6 Once the basic tail shape has been formed, press the tail between two wood spoon handles to straighten out the fish body.
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8 I also pressed each side of the tail against the spoon if the tail seemed too misshapen.
9 The finished goldfish roll.
10 Repeat for the other two rolls of dough to make goldfish rolls.
11 Place the rolls on wax paper on a tray and place in freezer for no more than 20 minutes. If the dough is too cold, it might crack as you slice it. If it gets frozen, just let it thaw for a couple minutes before slicing.
12 To make the bubbles, cut the round roll into 3/16″ slices and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. The crackers don’t raise so they can be placed fairly close together.
13 Bake the round “bubbles” at 375 for about 9 minutes. They won’t burn quickly so just watch them and pull them out when they are lightly brown on the bottoms. Turn out on paper towels to cool.
14 Using a sharp, non-serrated knife, slice the goldfish rolls about 1/4″ thick and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
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16 Aren’t these cool?
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20 The dough doesn’t raise much so the goldfish can be placed fairly close together.
Bake at 400 for 14 minutes. Cool on paper towels.
21 The Goldfish Crackers are all ready for her.
22 She walks home from school with her mom and little brother.
23 And then we have tea (Apple Juice or Water) and Goldfish and Shortbread.
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25 We ate them by the handful. None got away.