Pizza Sticks

Pizza Sticks are a super fun snack to serve at your next tailgate or any party

Happy Tailgating Snacks Month! We first made her Grilled Cheese Roll Ups for Super Bowl 2014. And, if you’ve spent any time on Pinterest, you’ve probably seen these Grilled Cheese Roll Ups already. I first saw these on ChinDeep, so this whole recipe was inspired by her roll ups.

When I started talking to Dan about these Pizza Sticks, I asked, “Do you remember those grilled cheese roll ups?” To which he said, oh yes, I think about them all the time!” hee hee. So, they are that good. But, I wanted to switch ‘em up a little: a smear of Easy Homemade Pizza Sauce (find the recipe here) inside. Mmmm, he liked the idea.

He suggested that we use shredded mozzarella instead of sliced processed cheese (he isn’t a big fan of the flavor of those cheese slices). He also wanted to try baking them instead of just frying them in butter in a skillet.

I’m game, but I did want to try all the different variations: shredded cheese, sliced cheese, baked, fried. All the pizza sticks got a smear of pizza sauce. And, one of the pizza sticks got some pepperoni (and, yes, he loved it!!!). So here are all the different variations we tried:

• Fried, with sliced cheese
• Fried, with shredded mozzarella
• Baked, with sliced cheese
• Baked, with shredded mozzarella
• Some of the baked ones got a light spray of olive oil and some were left dry
• Crusts cut off
• Crusts left on

In the end, after all our testing and tasting and more testing and more tasting (the work we do to make sure these recipes are great for you!), The clear winner was the baked, with shredded mozzarella.

All of the Pizza Sticks on this plate were baked. The ones where there’s a big pool of cheese, that’s the processed sliced cheese. If you look closely, you can see the one Pizza Stick that we left the crust on; it’s on the bottom of the stack and closest to the pizza sauce (it’s actually very pretty).

The processed sliced cheese oozed out of the sticks much more easily than the shredded mozzarella, and it was easier to roll up the sticks with shredded mozzarella. We both liked the flavor of the shredded mozzarella better than the processed cheese.

The skillet fried Pizza Sticks were crispy and light on the outside and cheesy and yummy on the inside. But, they were greasier. If you want to try the skillet fried method, just melt a little butter in your skillet, and fry up the Pizza Sticks like you would a grilled cheese sandwich. The added convenience of baking them, so you could make up a whole big batch of them all at once, and not have to stand over the stove turning and flipping them, was awesome! So that was a definite win!

The baked Pizza Sticks that were sprayed with olive oil had a slightly more toasty appearance than the ones without oil, but it was so slight that I don’t think you need to take the extra step or the extra calories to spray them.

And, as for the crusts, it didn’t seem to matter as far as the flavor or the ease of rolling them out. But the fact that they were bigger and there was no wasted crust that you have to throw away or find a new purpose for, was a big bonus. So, unless you have picky kids who won’t eat crusts at all, simply leave the crust on, and save yourself some time.

These are the Pizza Sticks that were fried in a skillet with butter. Very tasty, but not as easy to make a big batch, and certainly a bit more buttery and more calories.

Here’s the bread, all flatted out and stacked up. We cut the crusts off of most of our test pieces, but realized later that we didn’t feel the need to do that next time.

Here’s what the bread looks like when it’s covered with a thin smear of pizza sauce, and topped with shredded mozzarella. Be sure you don’t fill it too much, or it’ll be difficult to roll, and you run the risk of all your cheese oozing out.

Some detailed photos of making these Pizza Sticks

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Pizza Sticks

Servings 3

Author Debi

Ingredients

• 6 slices soft fresh white bread
• Shredded mozzarella
• Pizza Sauce homemade preferred

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Flatten each slice of bread with a rolling pin until very flat. Spread ½ to 1 tablespoon pizza sauce over the surface of the bread, leaving a small strip of bread without any sauce.
3. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella over the sauce, being careful not to over fill the Pizza Stick. Starting at the filled end of the slice, roll the filled slice up into a tight roll. With wet fingers, lightly moisten the bread end of the slice, and press the bread firmly to the other side to seal the roll.
4. Place the rolls on a silpat or parchment paper lined cookie sheet, and bake at 425 degrees F, and bake for 7-10 minutes, or until Pizza Sticks have browned a bit and the cheese is starting to look melty.
5. Serve pizza sticks with additional Pizza Sauce for dipping.

Recipe Notes

Makes 6 pizza sticks, though you could make as many or as few as you wanted. I figured 2 Pizza Sticks per serving at a party.
For Printing: Find the Really easy Pizza Sauce recipe here: https://lifecurrentsblog.com/easy-homemade-pizza-sauce/