Faux Fried Mozzerella Cheese Sticks!!!!

Faux Fried Mozzarella Cheese Sticks
6 Weight Watcher Points Plus

When you can find a way to eat mozzarella cheese sticks on your diet you have to put a few exclamation marks in the title. I love junk food and I'd put these in my favorite junk food category: Bar Food. If it is fried I love it. I have given up these foods except for on occasion when I decide to splurge. (When you are at Redcoat you just have to go for it and at least split an order of onion rings with your friend.)

So when I got Rocco Dispirito's cookbook, "Now Eat This!" and I saw that he had a healthier version of mozzarella cheese sticks I could not wait to try it. Well, actually he called them, "Crispy Mozzarella Sticks Fra Diavolo" which seems like a very silly name for FRIED CHEESE. But, Mr. Dispirito I am very thankful for the recipe because it was great. Do these taste like real fried mozzarella sticks? No. But they were really good and they don't come with the guilt.

Since I am alone today (my hubby took the tots to my in-laws, "ahhh...") I only made enough for just one serving because there is no way I would have left any of these guys behind. Here's how you make them...

Ingredients

• 2 low-fat mozzarella cheese sticks = 4 pp (if you have kids around you probably have these in your fridge right now.)
  
• 1 T Whole Wheat flour = 0 pp (I put 1 T in the dish put I only used about 1 t)
• 1 egg white, beaten = 0 pp
• 2 T Italian bread crumbs = 2 pp (Rocco uses whole wheat panko)
  
• 2 T pizza sauce for dipping = 0 pp
• Oil oil cooking spray
• Seasonings
  
• Total for 4 sticks = 6 pp

Directions

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees
  
• Cut 2 mozzarella sticks in half & dredge in flour.
  
• Add the mozzarella sticks to the beaten egg white & toss.
• Coat with bread crumbs. Use your fingers to really press the bread crumbs into the cheese.
• Spread the cheese sticks on a wire cooling rack that is inserted into a sheet pan, see picture below. This is a technique that Rocco uses for "faux frying". Spray cheese sticks lightly with olive oil cooking spray. Season with garlic powder & salt.
• Rocco says to bake these for 15 minutes but mine only took 8 minutes. You have to really watch these because when they are ready the cheese with start oozing out of them.