Baked Mozzerella Sticks

Baked Mozzerella Sticks with all the flavor of deep frying. Freezing them is a MUST, I always leave them in for at least an hour before and after breading. To avoid cheese explosions cut cheese sticks into smaller "bites".

• Ready In: 1 hr 10 mins
• Serves: 12
• Yields: 24 sticks

Ingredients

• 12  sticks  part-skim mozzarella string cheese
• 1  large egg
• 1⁄4 cup flour
• 1⁄4 cup  Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1⁄4 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 2  teaspoons parmesan cheese
• 1  tablespoon dried parsley
•  nonstick cooking spray

Directions

1. Remove wrappers and cut cheese in half to give you 24 pieces. Freeze cheese until hard and frozen, about 30 minutes.
2. In three separate shallow dishes, place egg, flour and breadcrumbs, each in their own dish. Whisk egg. To breadcrumbs dish, add panko, parmesan and parsley.
3. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Dip frozen cheese sticks in flour, shaking off excess, then into the egg, then coat with the crumbs. Repeat for each cheese stick, placing them on the lined baking sheet. Freeze on sheet at least 15 minutes, or until ready to bake (this is a must or they will melt before the crumbs get golden).
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Arrange oven rack in the bottom third of your oven.
5. Bake 4 to 5 minutes, turn sticks over, and bake an additional 4-5 minutes, watching sticks closely so they don't melt. Serve hot with marinara sauce or Ranch dressing for dipping.
6. Adapted by The Comfort of Cooking from SkinnyTaste.