If you miss goldfish crackers since going gluten free, my homemade Gluten Free Goldfish Crackers will become one of your kids’ favorite snacks! You won’t believe how crispy they turn out! I share all of my tips and tricks to make these taste like the real thing!
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Some of my toddlers’ first snacks were these popular goldfish crackers. We would go through bags before we knew we had to eat on a gluten free diet. When we all went gluten free, we missed those so much.
This recipe is very close to my homemade Gluten Free Cheez Its recipe. The flavors of both crackers are very similar. I include many tips and tricks so your goldfish turn out crispy and amazing!
Getting your kids in the kitchen so they learn to cook can be very empowering. Here are some delicious Gluten Free Recipes for Kids.
Why I love this gluten free goldfish recipe:
- This recipe is great because it is made with real, easy-to-find ingredients. You only need 5 ingredients!
- Kids love the crispy crackers. They make great toddler finger food.
- My recipe is so easy to make in just 30 minutes!
- This recipe gets rave reviews!
If you are always looking for great kid snacks, these Crispy Air Fried Chickpeas are also great for snacking! I include lots of flavor options for these chickpeas.
My daughter LOVES these goldfish – found the cutter on Amazon – will have Goldfish this weekend! Thank you!”
lisa B.
Allergen Information:
These homemade goldfish crackers are gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, and oat-free. I haven’t tried a dairy-free version. If you do, please let me know how it turned out.
Tips to make the best crackers:
1. Be sure your dough is cold before cutting out the fish shapes. Warm dough will stick to the fish cookie cutters and spread more during baking.
2. Ensure your oven rack is in the middle position so your crackers do not burn or get underbaked.
3. One reader said freezing the little fish made them crispier.
Ingredient Notes:
For the full list of ingredients and amounts, please go to the recipe card below.
- Gluten Free Flour Blend – I tested this recipe using Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour Blend and King Arthur’s Measure for Measure Gluten Free Blend. That doesn’t mean others will not work; I just have not tested other flours.
- Xanthan Gum – If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain xanthan gum or guar gum, please add 1 teaspoon.
- Butter – The colder, the better! Use salted or unsalted.
- Shredded Cheese – Use shredded sharp cheddar. Many ask if this can be made dairy-free with vegan cheese. The answer is not really. Vegan cheese melts differently, and these crackers do not get as crispy as vegan cheese.
Substitutions:
- Use plant-based butter in place of butter.
- If you are gum-free and can’t have xanthan or guar gum, try using my DIY Gluten Free Flour Blend.
- If you want to vary the flavor, you can use onion salt or paprika in place of garlic powder.
- Swap out the cheese to make other flavors. Good ideas include pepper jack and Monterey jack cheeses.
How To Make This Gluten Free Goldfish Recipe:
Step 1: Add all of the ingredients to a food processor. Pulse on medium speed until a dough ball forms in the food processor. This will happen pretty quickly. Continue until you see the dough ball form.
Step 2: Place your dough ball onto a piece of parchment paper or silicone mat, and use a rolling pin to roll it out to 1/4 inch thickness.
Step 3: Grab your little goldfish cookie cutter and cut out goldfish. I had to use a handle of a knife to push out the dough. That is normal, just flip them over so the knife mark doesn’t show.
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Step 4: Continue to cut out little goldfish crackers. Make sure there is space between each cracker.
Step 5: This cutter does get some dough stuck in the underside. Just use a knife to push the dough out every 20 or so goldfish.
Step 6: Sprinkle lightly with salt (optional) and gently slide the
Step 7: This makes a lot of goldfish, and I ended up baking mine in 3 batches. Take the unused dough and ball it up. Wrap in plastic wrap to cool again while the first batch bakes. This will keep it cold enough between batches.
Dough temperature is important in making this recipe. This photo shows you why it is so important to use very cold dough. These two gluten free goldfish are from different batches. The smaller one had less spread because the dough was colder. For the one on the right, I used warmer dough and it spread a bit.
If you love baking snacks for the family, try these incredible Gluten Free Soft Pretzels next!
These gluten free goldfish may be the perfect snack, but if you are looking for another kid-friendly snack, kids love this Gluten Free Granola Bars recipe too!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Yes, shredded cheese should be gluten free. As a precaution, always double-check the labels.
For this recipe, I feel it is important to use a food processor because it blends and chops the shredded cheddar cheese into fine pieces. This is important for the flavor and texture of the crackers.
I haven’t tested any dairy-free cheeses in this recipe, but if I were going to recommend a cheese to try this with, it would be VioLife brand cheddar shreds and plant-based butter.
These gluten free goldfish crackers should keep fresh for up to 3 days in an airtight container. You can also freeze them in a zip-style freezer bag. Recrisp in the oven or air fryer for 5 minutes.
I make these every week! I have used Cup4Cup wholesome grain flour and better batter and they are awesome. Always pop in the freezer for 5 just before baking.
Maryangie W.
If you love this goldfish recipe, you will also love these crispy Gluten Free Cheese Straws!
More Gluten Free Snack Recipes:
- Gluten Free Cowboy Cookies
- Honey Roasted Cashews
- Cinnamon Granola
- Gluten Free Sourdough Discard Crackers
Love This Recipe?
If you made and enjoyed this recipe, I would be incredibly grateful if you could leave a comment below. Please include which flour blend you used. This will help others know this recipe is delicious. Thank you!
Gluten Free Goldfish Crackers
Ingredients
- 1 cup gluten free flour blend * see note
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter COLD!
- 1-2 tablespoons water
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Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º F.
- Add 1 cup gluten free flour blend, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese, 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, and 1-2 tablespoons water to a food processor and pulse until it forms a dough ball.
- Remove the dough ball and place it onto a large piece of parchment paper.
- Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to 1/8 to 1/4 inches thick. Take a goldfish cookie cutter and press it into the dough. use the back handle of a knife to pres the goldfish out of the cookie cutter if needed.
- Spread out the goldfish and repeat until you work through the dough.
- Take the dough scraps and wrap it in plastic. Place in the refrigerator to chill it again.
- Sprinkle the goldfish lightly with salt.
- Slide the parchment paper onto a cookie sheet. Bake the crackers for 8-10 minutes and remove from the oven to cool.
- Repeat until you use up all of the dough. It took me 3 batches because you want the dough to be really cold.
Notes
- I have tested this recipe with King Arthur Measure for Measure GF and Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF blend. That doesn’t mean others will not work, I just have not tested other flours.
- If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain xanthan gum or guar gum, please add 1 teaspoon.
- I have not found a way to make this recipe dairy-free and still taste like goldfish crackers. Dairy-free cheese doesn’t melt the same and it affects the cracker texture.
- These crackers will keep up to 3 days in an air-tight container.
SPECIAL NOTE
Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn’t test, my rule of thumb is to add more flour if your dough or batter is wet and add more liquid if the dough or batter is too dry!
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
This post was updated from an older June 2021 post with more details.
I made these for my grandson who is gluten intolerant. He was so excited to have goldfish crackers! I used the goldfish mold, laid unbaked fish on a tray and froze them. Then I keep a bag in the freezer and can bake them as needed.
I love the idea of freezing the little dough fish for baking later! I am so glad your grandson loved this recipe!
Can you freeze the dough?
Hi Ashley, I haven’t done this, but it should be okay.
When I process the ingredients it forms small balls in the processor. Is that normal?
What flour blend are you using? You should be able to form a dough, if you weren’t able to…you may need a little more liquid.
If you do not have a gold fish mold can these just be cut into squares and would they then need to bake longer?
You can definitely bake them in squares, or use any shape of cookie cutter. Baking time is going to vary by how thick they are so keep an eye on them after 10-12 minutes.
I haven’t tried these yet but i am defintely very excited to! Just a question, do you think you could freeze the fough and just bake when you want to have them? It just seems like they don’t keep very long.
Hi Elizabeth, you can freeze this dough. I recommend wrapping it in plastic wrap, then putting it in a freezer safe bag.
These were delicious, I have been missing goldfish crackers for years! Perfect for snacking!
I am so glad you loved these crackers. They are a huge hit in our house too!
The flavor of these was great. I’m brand new to GF baking, so this is one of the first things I’ve tried. Mine were a little chewy rather than crispy. Any comments on what I may have done wrong? My flour had arabic gum rather than guar or xantham gum. Could that be an issue?
Hi Terri, I have never heard of arabic gum, so it is really hard for me to know if that is the case. Did you roll the crackers really thin or sub any other ingredients? What else is in the flour mix you used?
Thank you for your reply. I hadn’t heard of it either! But when I googled it was in a list of ‘gums’ similar to guar and xantham. I used “Just About foods” all purpose 1:1 flour. It’s a mix of rice flour, tapioca starch, tapioca flour, and Arabic gum. The texture of the flour blend is similar to corn starch. I really want to figure this out for my sweet girl who really really loves goldfish and can’t have them anymore!
Try cooking them a bit longer. My first batch was like that. I added 2 extra minutes and they came out crispy and flavorful! They are the best I’ve had in many years!
Hi. I’m wondering if the dough or unbaked crackers could be frozen and then baked at a later date?
Hi Holly, you can freeze the dough or unbaked crackers. You will want to freeze them on a tray so they don’t smoosh together in a zipper bag.
Just curious if dough should initially be refrigerated? If so how long? You didn’t mention It in your directions but you do mention “again” when referring to the scrapes
Hi Michelle, I did not chill my dough. You can if you like. In the post I was referring to re-rolling the scraps after using the goldfish cutter.
Thank you for the reply. I realize you did not initially according to your directions but you used the word “again” referring to the scraps which in most cases means initially the dough was refrigerated. I’ll make it without abs with to check the difference.
One more thing do you think they would bake as well without the cheese? I’m looking for a dairy free/cheese free recipe too.
Hi Michelle, I haven’t tried this recipe without cheese so I am not sure. I use VioLife a lot but it melts a little differently than regular cheese. If you try it, please let me know how they turn out.
6 year old with gastroperisis on top of other conditions. Can a low fat butter be used? What about reduced fat, skim or fat free cheese? Fat and fiber content are higher than traditional goldfish.
Hi Debi, I haven’t tested this recipe with low-fat ingredients. I am assuming it will be fine…the texture of your crackers may turn out drier so maybe take out 1-2 TBSP of the flour. I am purely guessing so please let me know how they turn out.
Love the recipe. Looking at the serving size for carb count. For a Diabetic/ gluten intolerant child ( yes, it’s a bummer). How much is a 1 gram serving for 25 carbs?
Hi Joey, I put the recipe into myfitnesspal .com and it lists the carbs as 17 grams. A serving will really depend how many crackers are eaten, the size of the crackers you make etc. I am not sure how to calculate this for you other than to give you the carbs per serving calculated from that app.
Thanks for coming up with this recipe! Maybe in the future you will offer a Parmesan Goldfish recipe.
That sounds yummy!
Do you store these in the refrigerator?
Hi Elizabeth, I would store them on the counter for a day, then the refrigerator after that. Ours always disappear the first day :-).