This year I decided to come up with a healthy twist on a party favorite: Fried Mozzarella Sticks. I love Babybel light cheeses (they only have 50 calories and 3g fat each!) and thought they would be great on a stick! You can make a bunch of these and bring to your superbowl party and serve warm or room temperature. I like to serve with a low-sugar marinara sauce or you can try a low-fat ranch or other dipping sauce.
BAKED CHEESE POPS
Ingredients:Â
- 2 packages Babybel Light Cheese (12 total rounds) with red outer wax removed
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2 tbsp flour (you can use whole wheat too)
- 4 tbsp breadcrumbs (plain or Italian)
- 4 tbsp panko crumbs
- olive oil cooking spray (I use Pam)
- 12 skewers or cake-pop sticks
Directions:
- First, you need to freeze the cheese in the freezer until cheese is hard.
- Whisk the egg in one bowl and set aside. Put the flower in a second bowl and then in a third bowl mix the bread crumbs and panko.
- Dip the frozen cheese rounds in flour first (shake off excess), then the egg, then the panko/crumb mixture last.
- Repeat this process with the remaining cheese placing them on a tray with wax paper. Place cheese back into the freezer until ready to bake (this will prevent the cheese from melting too quickly in the oven!!).
- When ready to bake preheat oven to 400° F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly spray with oil.
- Place frozen cheese on baking sheet. Spray the tops of the cheese rounds with a little more oil and bake in the bottom third of your oven until crisp, about 4 to 5 minutes. Turn and bake an additional 4 – 5 minutes watching them closely so they don’t melt.
- Let the cheese cool and then place your sticks in the bottom of each.
*Estimated Nutritional Value:
(per pop)
75 calories
3.5g fat
6.5g protein
Other Healthy Superbowl Party Options
Try this great recipe that’s featured on Hail Merry’s website. It goes great with veggies or lowfat pita chips!
Instead of downing a ton of beer or sugary cocktails during the game – try one of these non-alcoholic “mocktails” instead. At first I was a litte skeptical, but then I watched this video with recipes on the Today Show and these drinks look really good! The best part is that you can still have the festive look and flavor but you will be saving a lot of calories, Â not to mention the Monday morning hangover.
*Also, be sure to check out my tips and recipes from last year.
