Alright folks, buckle up because today’s experiment is a weird one, even for me. We’re diving deep into them fish cookies. Yeah, you heard right. Fish. Shaped. Cookies. Saw this title floating around and my first thought was, “That’s gotta be clickbait nonsense.” But hey, curiosity got the better of this old dog, so I figured why not roll up my sleeves and see what’s the actual story?
My Brilliant Plan Starts with the Fridge…
First step? Figure out what in the world “fish cookies” even are. Googled around a bit, mostly found folks arguing about recipes. Seems kinda simple – basically cookies shaped like fish, maybe with some sea-themed flavors? Honestly, info was thin on the ground. So, my plan was simple: grab a basic cookie dough recipe I knew worked, get one of them cheap fish-shaped silicone molds collecting dust in my cupboard (impulse buy ages ago!), and see if I could taste this “surprise amazing benefit” everyone supposedly talks about.
Here’s what went down:
- The Dumb Dough: Started plain. Flour, sugar, butter, eggs – the usual suspects. Mixed it all up in my trusty, kinda rusty bowl. Consistency felt fine. Standard cookie dough smell. Nothing “fishy” yet, thank goodness.
- The Mold Mess: Dug out that fish mold. Was harder than I thought pressing the dough into those tiny fin and tail spaces without ripping the dough. Used a spoon to scoop, then my fingers (washed!) to shove it in deep. Got dough under my nails, naturally. Pro tip: Grease the mold WAY better than I did. Some fish came out looking like sad, bloated tadpoles after baking.
- Baking Gamble: Shoved the tray in the oven, set the timer for standard cookie time. Crossed my fingers. Smelled… like cookies baking. Usual sweet, buttery goodness. No unexpected ocean breezes wafting through my kitchen.
- The “Sea Flavor” Fiasco: Okay, for the “benefits,” supposedly it was about omega-3s or something? Seemed dodgy. Didn’t have actual fish oil just lying around (yuck!), saw a recipe suggesting seaweed flakes or ground-up dried shrimp powder. Yeah, no. Wasn’t risking my whole batch. Grabbed some nori strips (like from sushi), crumbled a tiny bit VERY finely over half the dough just before baking the next tray. Prayed it wouldn’t taste like low tide.
- Hot Fish on a Rack: Timer dinged. Fish-shaped blobs came out golden brown (mostly). Some tails broke off getting them out of the mold. Left them cooling on a rack. The nori batch smelled… interesting. Like toasted seaweed trying to be friends with vanilla.
The Moment of Truth… Eating Weird Cookies
Alright. Let’s do this. Grabbed a plain fish cookie first.
- Plain Fish Cookie: Crunchy outside, chewy inside. Tasted… like a decent homemade cookie. Buttery, sweet, familiar. No magic, no surprise. Just cookie.
Deep breath. Tried the nori one.
- “Sea Benefit” Fish Cookie: Oh boy. First bite… sweet cookie. Then this weird savory, kinda salty, slightly fishy taste kicked in on the back end. Like the cookie met a wave and got splashed. It wasn’t horrible, but it sure as heck wasn’t delicious. Definitely didn’t feel energized or smarter. Mostly just confused.
So What “Amazing Benefits” Did I Uncover?
Honestly? Don’t think I unlocked the fountain of youth hidden in a cookie cutter shape.
What I did discover?
- Fun Factor: Okay, making shapes is way more fun than boring round cookies for about 5 minutes, then it gets tedious. My kid would love decorating them.
- Mold Misery: Silicone molds need serious greasing. Detailed ones are a total pain to fill and unmold cleanly.
- The “Fishy” Claim is Garbage: Unless you actually put fish ingredients in, it’s just a shaped cookie. Zero special health perks magically appear because it’s shaped like a bass. Adding actual fishy stuff? Makes them weird, not wonderful.
- Surprise? Yeah, Surprise They Taste Like Cookie: The “surprise” benefit is that despite the fancy shape, they taste pretty much like a normal cookie. Who’d have guessed? Groundbreaking.
- They Are Cookies: Let’s not overcomplicate. They’re still sugary treats. The benefit? They’re cookies. That’s it. They taste good (unless you add seaweed).
So yeah, wouldn’t call it genius health food, but the plain ones disappeared fast enough when my neighbor popped by. Would I make them again? Maybe for a kid’s party. Probably won’t be chasing any “amazing fish cookie benefits” though. Just bake good cookies, folks, shape optional.
