Homemade Gold Fish crackers

I swear every time I go into the grocery store (or wholesale), those cute brightly orange fish crackers smile at my kids and I. They are definitely one of those items that make its way into the cart- and not always for the kids.

I don't buy the colored ones-too much artificial coloring for myself, so I asked my daughter if she thought we could try making them sometime. "Yes!" She exclaimed ready to make them. She's my free little not-so-perfect mini me hired help.

After Google-ing (is that an actual verb yet?) "homemade goldfish crackers", lots of recipes and blogs came up immediately. This is one recipe that the kids can definitely help in the kitchen! My kids love turning the food processor on and off.

So I tried the first one from Tasty Kitchen's blog: http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2011/09/homemade-goldfish-crackers/ 

Five basic ingredients:
8 oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 c flour (you can use whole wheat if you so desire)
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 T water

Place everything EXCEPT THE WATER in your food processor and blend it all together. It should look like sand. Add water and turn on again until a dough ball forms.

Next step is to wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 mins-24 hours. This is a great activity for after nap or snack time.

After at least 20 minutes in the fridge, roll out your dough to about a 1/8" (similar to sugar cookie thickness). You can use an actual mini goldfish cookie cutter from Amazon. I think its around $15. I don't have one so I used a train, snail, and bat mini fondant/cookie cutters. My kids get bored relatively easily, so they were done in 5 mins, so I got left to cut the rest.

After cutting out as many as you can, bake them at 350 degrees for 15 mins or until they are lightly golden. They don't taste the exact same as the commercial brand, but seriously, how many preservatives do we really need? I know what's in my "goldfish crackers".

Next time I'm going to try adding more cheese...mmmmm
Let me know how yours turn out!