Nothing says childhood more than Goldfish crackers! Now you can make your own Homemade Gluten-Free & Vegan Goldfish that are top 8 allergy-free, grain-free, sugar-free, and secretly protein-packed! A healthy snack recipe mom’s and kids will love!
“Back-to-school” recipe number 2 and one that I’ve been DYING to share with you for a year now! Nothing screams childhood more than “the snack that smiles back”. I grew up eating Goldfish like it was my job. Those cheesy, salty, smiling fishies (we called them “fishies” in our house) were just so perfect in every way a snack could be. From birthday parties, school lunchbox snacks, after-school snacks, travel snacks, before bed snacks…Goldfish were always there and ready to please little bellies.
MY LATEST VIDEOSFrom the classic cheddar, colored, pizza (are favorite!), even the pretzel and plain ones, we loved them all! Goldfish were a snack I missed dearly, but not only did I need them gluten-free, but obviously dairy-free (vegan) too. Pepperidge Farm actually came out with a “puffed goldfish” that was gluten-free a few years ago, but discontinued it. Super sad because childhood (and adulthood) needs Goldfish, no matter what your dietary restrictions are.
There always seemed to have been a small “team Goldfish” vs. “team Cheez-It” battle going on. I was always team Goldfish, hands down. Cheez-Its have a much more “intense” and “sharp” cheddar taste. Don’t get me wrong, I loved them too, but I had to be in the mood for them. Goldfish, however, I could eat 24/7. I guess if you wanted to be a “cool” teenager, you wouldn’t dare eat Goldfish in front of your posse; but Cheez-Its would be acceptable. The “snack that smiles back” beats square cheddar crackers any day in my world!
Actually, fun fact: The first ingredient on the Goldfish package is, “Smiles”. Sadly, the next one is unbleached enriched wheat flour. But regardless, a snack that is made mostly with smiles? That seems like a Strength and Sunshine essential! They always say a recipe made with love tastes 1000x better; a recipe made with smiles must be pretty spot on too! (Maybe that’s just marketing…damn good marketing at that! Haha!)
Hopefully you see why I needed to make an allergy-free version of these fishies. I just needed to nix the gluten, soy, and most obviously dairy. That’s not a problem when you have some chickpea flour and nooch on hand! The perfect “cheezy” mock cheddar taste in a nice crispy plant protein-packed cracker, perfect for small hands (and big ones too!) And don’t worry, these little fish are 100% fish-free 😉 Sutiable for all bellies in need of an allergy-free snack! Celiacs and food allergy kids rejoice!
Homemade Gluten-Free + Vegan Goldfish
- 1 Cup Chickpea Flour
- 3 TB Nutritional Yeast
- 2 Tsp Olive Oil
- 1 Tsp Baking Powder
- ¼ Tsp Onion Powder
- ¼ Tsp Turmeric
- ⅛ Tsp Paprika (optional)
- ¼ Cup Water
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except the water and whisk together.
- Now slowly add the water (you may need more or less) until you mix and get a rollable dough.
- Now roll the dough out between 2 Silpats (or parchment paper) to ¼ inch thick.
- Use a little fish cookie cutter and cut, re-roll if needed, and cut again, until you have as many fish as you can make.
- Use a toothpick to make a small eye and smile line on the surface of the fish.
- Place the goldfish on a greased lined baking sheet and bake the goldfish in the oven for about 10 minutes.
They’re even grain-free! Not going to lie, I thought it was going to be tedious to make all those faces with the toothpick, but it was actually relaxing! Even though, if you’ve ever noticed, not all Goldfish have faces! About half the bag does, half the bag doesn’t! I didn’t think that was fair to the fishes, so I gave them all a little eye and a bright happy smile! The “snack that smiles back” needs to actually smile back!
So tell me:
+ Favorite Goldfish flavor?
+ Team Goldfish or Team Cheez-it?
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These are amazing!!! Just made a batch with my daughter and am thinking we should have doubled or tripled it because we could eat them all in one sitting! Thanks for this delicious alternative to goldfish!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
These are awesome..can we substitute anything for yeast?
No….it’s nutritional yeast. It is what gives it the cheesy/nutty flavor and helps with color. Nutritional yeast is not baking yeast, btw.
Thank you 😊…is it available in all stores?
OMG, these are so cuuuuute! Huge props to you for making them completely allergy-free. For me gluten-free baking is hard enough (I don’t really give it a try though) but these goldfish look perfect. Those faces are really cute too!
That’s why cooking is all just a fun and messy experiment 😉 xoxo
Oh my golly! My daughter is gluten intolerant and mentions all the time how she misses goldfish. Thank you so much for this recipe. I can hardly wait to surprise her.
Fantastic!! It will be a great surprise! I know I had missed them!
Thanks so much for coming up with a gluten free version of Goldfish to enjoy!
Someone had to make them allergy-friendly!
These are so adorable!
Thank you!
Pinned so I can try it sometime <3
Fantastic! Enjoy!
These sound fantastic! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
They you! Enjoy!
Love this gonna make some my princess is 4 1/2 and gluten free and some of her new friends are gluten and other allergies shared this with their mom too. Nellie starts school next week so I guess mom will be baking crackers this weekend.
They will be greatly appreciated and enjoyed 😉
Awesome vegan recipe!!!
Allergy-free, yea!
Ahh, these are so cute! My kids would love these. Love that they list ‘smiles’ as first ingredient! Yours sound healthy and totally more-ish, what’s not to like?!
Haha, yes! And those smiles…they just seal the deal on Goldfish 😉
classic childhood snack! so good!
these are adorable
The ultimate classic 🙂 Thanks!
We never had these here, but they looks so good. Kids would definitely love them. Shared!
All kids sure will!
These are sooo cute! Definitely going on my back to school baking list! I’ve been wanting to experiment with nutritional yeast for a while now and these will be a perfect recipe to start with!
I could just eat nooch by the gallon!
I never even dreamed of making my own goldfish, What a great idea.
Well now it is a reality!
These look so great! What a fun snack for kids and adults!
Haha, yes, and adults 😉
These look amazing! I was definitely ‘Team Goldfish’
Good team to be on 😉
I am so happy I found this! My doctor has suggested we try gluten free for my son who has some health issues and he ADORES goldfish… I mean when he isn’t having a toddler meltdown in the middle of target those little fish can fix it quicker than you can say goldfish! I can’t wait to make these and try them out! I would love to create a blog post about his reaction and link back here to the recipe. Would that be ok?
I guess that depends on the reaction! Haha!
Love these gluten free guys!
Thank you!
I have friends whose kids have allergies and I am positive they will be so happy to get this recipe. Those are adorable!
I think they will!! Everyone should be able to enjoy the smiles 😉
What a nifty snack!!!
Thank you!
The first ingredients was “smiles”. Aw I loved that, and I love how you delicately recreated all those smiles on these cute little biscuits!
It is All about the smiles!
These are so cute!! We don’t have them in the UK (I don’t think so anyway), but they look delish.
Well that doesn’t matter now, lol.
SUCH a childhood classic! My favorite were the pizza goldfish, but just a few years ago I spotted cake batter gold fish. I wish I’d gotten them! Dessert goldfish would’ve been so fun. I’d have to say Cheez-Itz were for sure my favorite between the two. I feel like they have such a nice toasty cheese flavor to them. I just love how simple this recipe is! I have all the ingredients already. Can’t wait to try it out 🙂 !!
xxMeah
Haha, I’m not sure how I feel about dessert Goldfish!
I love how these still have the iconic eyes and smile but are SO MUCH healthier than the original. I would LOVE to try these out, goldfish were one of my favorite snacks growing up!
Me too! I missed them for SOOO long!
These are so cute! I can’t wait to try them. I loved eating goldfish when I was little. I am sure that these are way better for you!
Haha, yes, just a bit healthier 😉
These are the cutest! I love that you used chickpea flour!
Haha, well thank you!
Wow! I thought the ingredient list would be longer! I’m impressed by how easy this all seems to be.
Nope! Super easy and delicious!
How cute! I love that they are gluten free and vegan. So perfect for my kids’ lunch boxes.
Yes, they will adore these!
It’s so funny I had a serious craving for goldfish a few weeks ago but didn’t indulge because who knows what’s in the original versions of these tasty snacks. This recipe will totally come in handy.
It’s a Goldfish miracle!
wow that’s a lot of love put into these little crackers by making the eyes and mouth. I love it!
Well of course, they’re Goldfish!
Eat your heart out, Pepperidge Farm! We GFers have a choice!
Hahaha, exactly!!
This will get devoured in our house! What a great idea to make a healthier version.
A total healthy snack addiction!
I ate these all the time as a kid. I’m glad you have a healthier option now!
They were such an essential!
These are way too cute. I have got to try these for the kids! The ingredients are not long either. I have almost everything except for the chickpea flour.
Always keep that magic bean flour in the pantry 😉
Awesome team #vegan will try this out
Haha, great! Let me know!
Love that these are gluten-free!
Welcome to a celiac food blog!
Great snack! Love a healthier option thats also tasty and appealing to kiddos. Yay!
The kids will LOVE!