Skinny Baked Mozzarella Sticks

Anyone else seen this recipe floating around Pinterest?

I've been following Gina for a while now, and as soon as she posted this one, I pinned it right away. It sounded too good to be true. Cheesy, crunchy, tasty mozzarella sticks that weren't loaded with calories and fat? No way.

Since I'm trying to be a little more health conscious, I decided to give these a whirl for the Superbowl. My husband's family was coming over for the game, and this included our teenage nephews. What better chance to try out a (sneaky) healthy recipe than when I've got teenage boys in the house?!

When I told them I was making them, I immediately got a "Oh, those are gonna be good..." from the 15 yr old. And wouldn't you know it? They loved them.

The only thing I need to stress for these to work is to make sure you follow the freezing process. Otherwise, you run the risk of them turning into a pile of cheesy goo.

Thankfully, it didn't happen to me. They were amazing. For you WW peeps, each one is only 2 points. Crazy, right?!

I also recommend getting Sargento cheese. I went the cheaper route, and even though nobody else seemed bothered, I could tell there was more salt in them than I would've liked. Sargento is just better anyway, I think. So yeah. These were a hit.

Skinny Baked Mozzarella Sticks

(Recipe by Gina)

via

Ingredients

12 sticks part-skim, reduced sodium mozzarella string cheese (Sargento)

1 large egg, beaten

2 tbsp flour

5 tbsp Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

5 tbsp panko crumbs

2 tsp parmesan cheese

1 tbsp dried parsley

olive oil cooking spray

Directions

Cut

cheese in half to give you 24 pieces.

Place

cheese in the freezer until cheese is frozen.

In small bowl,

whisk

the egg.

Place

the flour on another small dish. In separate bowl,

combine

bread crumbs, panko, parmesan cheese and dried parsley.

Dip

the frozen sticks in flour, shaking off excess, then into the egg, then coat with the crumbs.

Repeat

this process with the remaining cheese placing them on a tray with wax paper. Place cheese back into the freezer until ready to bake (this is a must or they will melt before the crumbs get golden).

When ready to bake

preheat

oven to 400° F.

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.

Turn

and

bake

an additional 4 - 5 minutes watching them closely so they don't melt.

Makes 24 pieces.