Another great appetizer or movie night treat!

Who doesn't like cheese? So, I tried my own mozzarella sticks!

This does require either a deep fryer or a deep pan with peanut oil. It needs to be preheated to 375 degrees. If you don't have a thermometer (if you are using a pan) just drop in some of the egg wash (which I will explain soon) and if it bubbles and pops....the oil is ready.

You will need to put about 3/4 cup of regular flour onto a plate for dredging (this will vary depending on how many of the sticks you want to make).

Next, you want to make an egg wash. Just whisk up 1-2 eggs in a bowl...no need to add milk or water.

Next step is to pile a plate with crumbs. I have found that regular bread crumbs are usually what is used for mozzarella sticks, however I wanted mine to be a little more crunchy and light tasting. I used equal parts of panko crumbs and regular bread crumbs.

Breading recipe:

1 cup panko, 1 cup regular bread crumbs

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon oregano leaves (dried)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper (or powder)

This is the fun part...and easy! Use regular string cheese for this. No need to get fresh mozzarella or any fancy stuff. Just buy the regular string cheese and cut them in half.

Once your oil is ready, get your cheese and rub it in the flour, making sure to cover it thoroughly. Pat off the excess flour and then run the cheese through the egg wash. Cover it completely. Then into the bread crumb mixture. After covering the cheese with the crumb mixture, repeat with the egg wash again and crumb mixture again, then put into the oil.

It will not take long for them to fry. About 1-2 minutes per side. Keep your eye on them, they will need to be rolled around in the oil so they don't set on only one side and not brown on the other side.

Take them out and place on a plate lined with paper towels so that the excess oil can drain.

I bought just regular bottled spaghetti sauce for dipping. You can use it out of the bottle or heat it up. Of course, I would have loved to make my own sauce, however, I was coming home from kick boxing class with my family and my daughter wanted something fast.

I will go with the homemade sauce when I have the time! Ha Ha!

These are really easy and sooooo yummy. The panko crumbs make a huge difference in the lightness of the sticks and using the store bought string cheese sticks makes is user friendly.