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First of all, I love the deep fried mozzarella sticks and while the baked sticks don’t come anywhere close to tasting like the fried sticks, they are a wonderful substitute. Especially if you are counting calories or, like me, are too lazy to get the deep fryer out and mess with all that oil.
This recipe is easy but plan for all the freezing involved. These sticks MUST be watched in the oven or they will melt. I watched mine and couple melted very quickly so please keep an eye on them.
I found the recipe on Pinterest and it comes from a site called The Comfort of Cooking.
Baked Mozzarella Sticks
12 mozzarella sticks, cut in half to make 24 pieces
1 egg
1/4 cup flour
1/4 Italian-style bread crumbs
1/4 cup panko
2 tsps grated Parmesan
1 tbsp dried parsley
Freeze the 24 pieces of mozzarella until hard ~ about 30 minutes.
Place the egg in a shallow dish and whisk. Place the flour in a separate dish. Place the breadcrumbs, panko, Parmesan, and parsley ~mixed~ in a third shallow dish.
Line a baking sheet with foil and spray foil with cooking spray.
Working quickly, dip frozen mozzarella halves into the flour, then egg, then breadcrumb mixture and place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat until all pieces are coated. Freeze on the cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes until frozen.
While the coated cheese is freezing, preheat the oven to 400º.
When the coated cheese is ready, place in oven and bake 4-5 minutes. Remove from oven and turn pieces over. Return to oven for an additional 4-5 minutes.
WATCH STICKS CLOSELY because they will melt quickly.
Serve immediately with warm marinara sauce.
Makes 24 mozzarella sticks.
Happy Cooking!
