A Simple Cheese Bites Appetizer

Isaiah 61:10

I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God.  For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Winter arrived at our house with a blast of 20 degree air last night. The overnight low was 20 and the daytime high 30!  I know there are parts of the country that have been in winter wonderland for a while now, but we have not!  Brrrrrrrr is all I’ve got to say about that!  Not minding the cold one bit is my 35-year-old Christmas Cactus.
This beauty starts blooming the first of December and has been known to bloom through Easter!  She is absolutely loaded with delicate flowers that drop from the stem tips.  I attribute her growth and longevity to all the pruning we have done through the years by giving starter shoots to many friends and family.  Enough bragging, I mean bloggin’ about my cactus 🙂  Let’s talk about food! (Just another of my favorite subjects!)  Soup for dinner tonight – and lucky for me this came straight out of the freezer this morning.  I absolutely love soups that can be eaten fresh once or twice and then frozen for another meal later on.  Post Roast Vegetable Soup is perfect for freezing because the flavors tend to get better and better! And just before
we ate this awesome soup, we ate a little appetizer that was left-over from a little New Year’s Eve dinner party!  Last week I was cruising through some foodie websites and came across a recipe for a “baked” cheese-stick  type appetizer.  I was immediately drawn to the idea of a cheesy fried-looking appetizer that wasn’t fried at all.  I decided right then and there I had to make these as a little appe-teaser before our new year’s eve dinner.  As I briefly looked over the ingredient list I knew I had some Panko bread crumbs and mozzarella cheese sticks in the frig.
(Wow, looking at this picture — I need a new cutting board…) So, Saturday afternoon rolls around and I head to my computer to retrieve the recipe for these lovely little cheese bites.  Surely I bookmarked it … no, well then I must have printed out the recipe …  but where did I put it?  Hmmmm.   I could find all sorts of recipes for frying cheese sticks, but I had my cholesterol laden heart set on baking them!  After looking far too long, and having made up my mind I was going to serve these warm, luscious little bits of cheese …

I decided, “what the heck, I can do this…”   Panko crumbs – check, corn flake crumbs – check, mozzarella cheese sticks – check.  Some of my favorite seasonings – check.  This just may work!
And, I was right – they turned out delicious.  I can imagine these as a perfect after-school snack for some hungry little kidlings, or a nice warm addition to a plate of fruit and crackers.  No matter when you serve them, just know they are quite simple to make, really tasty and BAKED not Fried!

Many Blessings and Happy Cooking!

Baked Cheese Bites

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

8 mins

Total time

18 mins

Baked not fried melted bits of tasty cheese!

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 6 Mozzarella String Cheese Stick
• 1 Egg
• ¼ cup Panko Bread Crumbs
• ¼ cup Corn Flake Crumbs
• 2 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, shredded
• Salt and Pepper To Taste
• ½ teaspoon Garlic Salt
• 1 teaspoon Parlsey, Dried
• Any Favorite Seasoning

Instructions

1. Quarter each cheese stick for a total of 24 pieces of cheese.
   
2. Mix all dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl beat the egg slightly. Dip each piece of cheese in the egg and roll in the dry ingredients.
   
3. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 5 to 6 minutes at 350 degrees. Baking will melt the cheese slightly, but be careful not to over-bake.
   
4. Serve immediately.
   

Notes

Add any of your favorite seasonings such as thyme, rosemary, oregano, etc.

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