Place halved cheese sticks into a ziplock baggie and place in freezer until frozen, at least 30 minutes.
Place egg into a shallow bowl and whisk until broken up. Set aside.
Place breadcrumbs, panko, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, chili powder, and smoked paprika in another shallow bowl and whisk until well combined. Set aside.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
Place frozen cheese sticks and flour into another ziplock baggie (the one from the freezer will have too many ice chunks) and shake until the cheese sticks and fully coated in the flour.
Discard excess flour.
Dunk one cheese stick in egg until fully coated and then in panko mixture until fully coated.
Place on lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining cheese sticks.
Place baking sheet in freezer until all the cheese sticks have re-frozen, at least an hour.
Hit “ON†on the air fryer.
Then hit “PRE-HEATâ€. Set the temperature to 370 degrees F and set the timer to 5 minutes.
Start Timer
Hit “STARTâ€.
The air fryer will beep at you when it’s finished preheating.
Open up the air fryer and spray the basket with cooking spray.
Place in the mozzarella sticks, work with about 6 at a time, so you don’t over crowd them.
Close the air fryer. It will beep at you when it’s finished cooking.
Repeat with as many mozzarella sticks as you’d like. Store uncooked leftovers in the freezer!
Serve with dipping sauces and enjoy!
Notes
Use 1 teaspoon each of spice if you want a more aggressively seasoned mozzarella stick!
If you’d like to make these ahead of time, after the mozzarella sticks are frozen on the baking sheet, move them to a ziplock baggie and store in freezer for 2-3 months.
