Homemade cheese hoppers, take 2

I posted my Emeril Twitter avatar recipe on Wednesday: cheesy snacks that I hoped would taste like homemade cheese hoppers (a.k.a. Annie's cheese bunnies or other commercial cheesy snacks). While my hubby and I enjoyed them, they were way too overly spiced for the kids.

The very next day, Deb at Smitten Kitchen posted a recipe for homemade goldfish...how could I resist?

These were so incredibly easy to throw together, especially since Deb gives weights, so all I had to do was dump everything into a bowl sitting on my scale: all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, grated sharp cheddar cheese, salt, onion powder, and butter. I threw the bowl full of ingredients into my food processor, let it mix for about 90 seconds until it formed a ball, and tossed it into the fridge for a bit.

The next part was the most time consuming: rolling the dough thinly, cutting out the shapes, and punching out eyes with a wooden skewer. I used my duck, butterfly, and cat mini cookie cutters. This recipe made three trays of treats, about 120, which cooked in 12 minutes in a 350F oven.

They were crispy, buttery, and cheesy. Most of the first tray were already gone by the time the other two trays were done cooking and cooling. This is definitely a make-again recipe...Sorry, Emeril!