Mozzarella Sticks

Hey everyone! Who likes mozzarella sticks here? More like who DOESN'T, right?! If you're anything like me, you can't resist that delicious fried cheese creation! All kinds of mozzarella sticks seem to be delicious..frozen, restaurant, etc..but sometimes there is nothing better than homemade. I've been making them this way at home for awhile now. They are so easy and so yummy. I've often thought of cooking them through, then freezing them so we can just pull them out and put them in the oven, that sounds way too tempting though..I don't know if I'd always want such easy access to them! LOL. If you love mozzy sticks, try making them at home..you'll love them!

-

Ingredients:

1 Package String Cheese

1 1/2 Cups Italian Seasoned Breadcrumbs

1 Cup All-Purpose Flour

2 Eggs, beaten

2 Cups Vegetable Oil

Parmesan Cheese & Fresh chopped Parsley, for garnish

Ranch and/or Marinara, to serve

-

Directions:

Cut string cheese in half width-wise. Coat 1 at a time in this order: flour, eggs and then breadcrumbs..set them on something you can put in the freezer and once you've coated all of them, place them in the freezer for 15-20 minutes, just to set the coating. Heat up your oil in a shallow skillet and then carefully with a pair of tongs place your sticks into the oil and let them fry, turning to evenly cook them, until they are golden brown and cheese just starts to ooze out. Drain on paper towels, sprinkle with Parmesan and parsley and serve.

Coconut Pecan Chocolate Chip Blondies

Forgive me that the post before last was a bar type dessert as well. Well actually, I hope you'll be thanking me instead..because these blondies are out of this world!!! These are seriously perfect to me. I love the texture that coconut gets when it is baked into something like this, and the hints of chopped pecan, and the chocolate, oh the chocolate! These are heavenly, and if you are a fan of everything in these, then you will go nutso for them..go make them NOW!!!

-

Ingredients:

1 Egg

3/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar, packed

1 Stick Butter, melted and cooled

1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

3/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/8 Teaspoon Salt

3/4 Cup Pecans, chopped

2/3 Cup Sweetened Flaked Coconut

3/4 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

-

Directions:

In a large bowl, beat egg and brown sugar until fluffy. Add butter and vanilla, mix well. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the brown sugar mixture, stir until just combined. Stir in coconut, chocolate chips and pecans. Spread into a greased 8x8 baking dish. Bake in a pre-heated 325 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean, there can be a small scrape of dough, just make sure not to overcook them, because they will continue cooking for a bit once you take them out of the oven. Cut into bars and enjoy!

Butterfinger Cookie Bars

Hola! I hope everybody has been doing well. We've been just great here! If you don't like Butterfinger candy bars, don't turn away! You can top these with any candy bar you want, in fact, a Snickers version sounds pretty good to me! I happened to have some Butterfingers lying around that weren't appealing to me on their own, so that's when I came up with this yummy cookie bar. The base is awesome, but the addition of a chocolate layer, then sprinkled candy bar is almost too much to resist, enjoy these!!!
-
Ingredients:
2 Sticks Butter, softened
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
2 Eggs
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
About 8-10 Fun Size Butterfinger Candy Bars, chopped (or any candy bar of your liking)
-
Directions:
Cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add baking soda and salt, then mix. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until just incorporated. Add flour and mix until well blended. Pour batter into an even layer in a greased 13 x 9 baking pan. Bake in at pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (they should be a dark golden brown). As soon as they come out of the oven, sprinkle chocolate chips over top and let set for about 5 minutes. The chocolate chips should be melted and easily spreadable. Spread them in a even layer over the bars, then quickly before the chocolate sets, sprinkle on your chopped candy bars. Let cool before cutting into bars.