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Making homemade Whole Wheat Cheese Crackers is so much easier and faster than you would think! You can whip them up and even freeze a bunch so you have them around all the time.

Goldfish are one of those “easy” foods that most people keep in the pantry for their kids. And why not? They’re tasty and convenient. But when I make my own at home, I know exactly what’s going into them, just cheese, whole wheat flour, butter, and a little seasoning, with none of the mystery ingredients. For such a simple food, the homemade version really is so much better.
I know what you might be thinking…”it takes longer to make goldfish than it does for me to buy them”. Well, you’d not only be surprised by how quick and easy these cheddar crackers are to make but also how much money you’ll save making your own. And the best part is that you can use cookie cutters to pop out these crackers in whatever shapes you think your kids will love. More special than goldfish? What more could you hope for at snack time!
Photo by Maren Caruso
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Whole Wheat Cheddar Crackers
Ingredients
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon spike salt-free seasoning (any salt free/herb seasoning will work)
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Place the first 3 ingredients in a food processor and pulse to combine.
- Add the butter and pulse and until a ball forms.
- Roll out dough 1/4 inch thick on a floured or parchment-covered surface. Slice into crackers or cut out shapes with a cookie cutter.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Keep in mind, every oven is different and how thick the crackers are rolled out can affect the cook time. Keep an eye on your crackers so they don't burn just in case!
- Serve.





have you read this? i am so upset that they don’t list that the crackers have msg in them. what is next?
Thanks so much!
There are many more ingredients on the Spike label, but I figured these would be the easiest to find.
Oh thank you for the information! You can use any spice blend you like. Spike has such a huge mixture of flavors that it adds so much flavor. I would try recreating spike: Garlic powder, onion powder, nutritional yeast, mustard powder, coriander, oregano, thyme, cumin, ginger, paprika, black pepper, cloves, cinnamon.
1 Tbsp of the first 3 ingredients, 1/2 Tbsp of the next 6, 1/2 Tsp of the final 4. Mix it together and taste it to see if you like to combination or if you want more of a certain flavor.
These look great!! So, set out to make them and noticed a recall notice on the Spike seasoning site.. Can you recommend a substitute?
Made these with my 2 yr old son tonight (he loved it!), halved the recipe, but forgot to halve the butter! Needless to say, I’ve got some reeaaally decadent cheese nibblies for tomorrow’s snack!
(PS> I also subbed 2tbsp of cream cheese for 2tbsp of the butter, so hopefully that helped a bit. Also used Indian Masala spice mix for the herbs. Tasty!)
Easy and super yummy-I used Mrs. Dash chipotle seasoning to give a nice little kick! I just used a pizza wheel to zip out little squares of dough–These are definitely replacing the goldfish in my lunch box!
Made these yesterday with my 3 1/2 year old. LOVE these. Very cheesy. Have small cookie cutters that we used and my pastry roller for some small squares. The comment from my husband when I said don’t eat all of them was then make more. I can say that everyone in our house loves these! I will be making these more often and we decided these will be what we share when we take snack to his preschool next time we are up. Thank you for wonderful recipes!!!
I must confess I broke my blender trying to make carrot crackers in it. oops. Now I just do it by hand. I must try this recipe by hand! 😀
I do not recommend using a blender because the cheese will get stuck under the blades and jam your machine. If you don’t have a food processor, mixing my hand is a better alternative. The dough might clump in the stand mixer attachment but it should be easy enough to scrape out.
These look fun! I don’t have a food processor. Can I use a blender for the first three ingredients and then transfer to my kitchenaid stand mixer?
Also, I loved these myself but I don’t agree that you’ll save money by making your own. You can buy a bag of goldfish for 88 cents on sale…but using real cheese and real butter will be WAY more expensive. Of course, I think it’s worth the extra for a healthy snack….but just thought you should know.
Definitely didn’t need to cook these as long as the recipe says.
Also, my 2 1/2 year old wouldn’t eat these. I put in Italian herb seasoning. Any other seasonings that might give them a better flavor? I think that I overcooked them a tad, too. What about something like cinnamon?
I found the “original” Spike. After looking at the ingredients it looks like it has salt in it. Did you use a salt-free Spike?
Step 3 when you add the butter, is there a word missing, it says “pulse and until” ?? I’m easily confused. Thanks!
My girls loved these. However, next time I’ll set the timer for about 8 minutes, and pick up some cute cookie cutter from Kitchen Kapers.