Cheesy Garlic Breadsticks

We love to have pizza/movie night every Friday night with homemade pizza! It's been a family tradition that I've continued since my childhood and it's a lot of fun. My kids look forward to it all week and so do I. Homemade pizza is one of the easiest meals that I cook during the week. Since I make it so often, I don't even need to look at a recipe, and it's done in less time than it would take us to order a pizza and go pick it up. It's fast food! My pizza dough recipe is simple and healthy with only a few basic ingredients. One of the best things about Friday night pizza is it's the one night that everyone is happy with dinner- we let the kids pick their own toppings (they always pick the same...) and we like to add variety with ours...Here's a little variation that we discovered that even the kids love: Cheesy Garlic Breadsticks. 

Cheesy Garlic Breadsticks
Printable Recipe

*Makes 48 breadsticks

*Note: If you don't have a pizza stone, you can bake the breadsticks using this method from yum sugar. I've tried it and it works great.

INGREDIENTS:
1 recipe whole grain pizza or bread stick dough
5 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped fine (or use garlic salt)
1/2 Cup butter, melted
1 - 1/2 Cups Shredded cheese (I used a blend of mozzarella and Colby jack)

You will also need oil for rolling out dough, parchment paper and a pizza stone is preferred but not necessary (see note above).

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven 475-500 F (depending on how hot your oven cooks). Mix up pizza/bread stick dough and let rise for 10-20 minutes (you can skip this step if you're in a hurry, but your bread sticks won't be quite as fluffy). Divide dough into thirds.   Sprinkle counter with a little oil and roll out 1/3 of the dough into a circular shape until it is about 1/4" thick. Move dough over to a piece of parchment paper. Mix crushed garlic with melted butter and brush over dough until dough is covered evenly. If you are using garlic salt, spread melted butter over dough and then sprinkle lightly with garlic salt. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of shredded cheese. Bake 6-8 minutes in preheated oven or until cheese is bubbly. Serve immediately.

Recipe Source: healthyfamilycookin.blogspot.com

For more ideas for your family pizza night see my Pinterest board: Dinner Themes: Pizza Night!