Baked Mozzarella Sticks

About This Recipe

The trick to making Baked Mozzarella Sticks in the oven, is to make sure they are frozen before you bake em! Make a batch and keep them frozen, so you can whip some up whenever you need a snack!

Ingredients

• 12 sticks part-skim (reduced sodium mozzarella string cheese (Sargento))
• 1 large egg (beaten)
• 2 tbsp flour
• 5 tbsp Italian seasoned breadcrumbs (or GF breadcrumbs)
• 5 tbsp panko crumbs
• 2 tsp parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• olive oil cooking spray (I used my misto)

Instructions

1. Cut cheese in half to give you 24 pieces. Place cheese in the freezer until cheese is frozen.
2. In small bowl, whisk the egg. Place the flour on another small dish.
3. In separate bowl, combine bread crumbs, panko, parmesan cheese and dried parsley.
4. Dip the frozen sticks in flour, shaking off excess, then into the egg, then coat with the crumbs.
5. Repeat this process with the remaining cheese placing them on a tray with wax paper.
6. Place cheese back into the freezer at least 1 hour until ready to bake (this is a MUST or they will melt before the crumbs get golden).
7. When ready to bake preheat oven to 400° F.
8. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly spray with oil. Place frozen cheese sticks on baking sheet. Spray the tops of the mozzarella sticks with a little more oil and bake in the bottom third of your oven until crisp, about 4 to 5 minutes.
9. Turn and bake an additional 4 - 5 minutes watching them closely so they don't melt.