Mozzarella Sticks

I was looking at some older recipes of Pioneer Woman because I haven’t read her blog in a while. I know. I’m a very sad person! Haha Anyway, She had a recipe for homemade mozzarella sticks (Click on the link for the recipe, and YES, this is her picture above. haha). She went on and on about how much better the homemade ones are than the store bought ones. I LOVE mozzarella sticks. I had a little chat with myself and decided that since I LOVE the store bought stuff SO much, I owed it to myself to try the homemade kind. They would either turn out super yummy or not worth the effort, if you know what I mean. :) Well, Pioneer Woman was right, as usual. They are to DIE for! OK. Maybe DIE is a strong word. But these things make your knees bend and your mouth cry with excitement! They aren’t too difficult to make either.

First, you need Panko crumbs. I had never heard of them until this recipe. I am thoroughly impressed with these bread crumbs. I found mine in my local Kroger store beside the regular bread crumbs. They had some pre-seasoned ones ($3.49), but I opted for the regular ones ($1.49). Was there ever a doubt which ones I bought? Haha I just added Italian seasoning and some extra parsley to mine. :)

Then you take the cheese sticks and cut them in half. The hardest part is getting the cheese sticks out of their packaging. ;)

Then you dip them in flour. Just make sure they are covered well. This is what helps the egg/crumb mixture stay on the sticks.

Then dip in the egg. I found it easier to use a fork to help with this. It helped all the egg “drippings” to “drip” off. Haha

Then throw it in the panko crumbs. I just pushed the crumbs around the stick while gently pressing them into the egg mixture.

Then place on a pan or plate. Once they are all finished, put them in the freezer for about 30 minutes. This apparently helps them to stay together a little better when you fry them. :)

Once they have waited their 30 mins, drop them in oil and fry until golden brown. We had enough to let cool completely then place in a freezer bag so we can use and enjoy just like ones you get from the store. YEAH!