Believe It Or Not, Goldfish May Be What Your Ice Cream Cones Are Missing

Julia Child famously told The New York Times that she served Goldfish crackers to her Thanksgiving guests as an appetizer. The simple baked good, with its iconic shape and variety of flavors, is as timeless as a snack can get. It's sturdy enough to hold its aquatic form in the industrial assembly process, yet it crumbles to crisp shards with the slightest bite. This, plus its adorable size and salty, buttery taste, make a bag of them go down like air. It's no wonder Child liked to pair them with cocktails. 

While Goldfish crackers make an excellent snack on their own, they've also been known to swim in other comestible waters. Meatloaf and Melodrama uses them as a crispy coating for mozzarella sticks, while Occasionally Crafty prefers them as a crumbly topping for baked mac and cheese. But savory treats aren't the only place for these sedentary swimmers. You can also use them to make ice cream cones. 

As Food & Wine noted in its 2021 roundup of the year's best cooking tips, chef Jenny Dorsey (who's also the founder of the research nonprofit Studio ATAO) is a genius for using cheddar Goldfish crackers to make cheesy cones for her banana-rum ice cream. She appeared on Food & Wine's video series "Chefs at Home" to share the recipe, which she promises is as much of a hit for kids as it is for adults — just like Goldfish crackers themselves. 

To make the cones, all you need is cheddar Goldfish crackers (or your other favorite cheddar-flavored cracker like Cheez-Its), large eggs, granulated sugar, whole milk, and unsalted butter. The crackers serve as a replacement for flour, which means they get blitzed to a fine powder in a food processor. The remaining ingredients, along with the pulverized cheddar crackers, get blended together in a stand mixer until "well-mixed and fluffy." 

Dorsey then spoons small amounts of batter onto a waffle maker (a skillet works, too) and presses them into thin, crepe-like circles. While they're still hot, she rolls them onto a paper cone and lets them cool into their final form. 

Jenny Dorsey may be the sole captain of the cheddar-cone ship, but a surprising amount of people on the internet recommend other ice-cream-related applications for Goldfish crackers. One Reddit user proclaims, "Eating [Goldfish crackers] with ice cream is the best way to get sweet and salty at the same time." The post is accompanied by a photo of a tub of chocolate ice cream peppered with the cheddary fish. People in the comments were less than approving, but one user backed up the board's claim, noting that there's "something special" about the combination of Goldfish and chocolate. 

The YouTube channel Rolled Ice Cream Hub featured an ASMR-heavy video in which the cheesy crackers get covered in cream and smashed to bits until it forms into a dense treat that's similar to ice cream but thicker and served in — you guessed it — rolls instead of scoops. Intrigued? You might consider pairing your homemade cheddary ice cream with Dorsey's waffle cones for the ultimate Goldfish dessert experience.