Garlic cheese wontons

Today I made the perfect football watching snack. Garlic cheese wontons. Yep – they are just as good as they sound. I got the idea from Kristin and one of her fabulous Friday Favorites posts, but the recipe is from The Family Kitchen. I’d been wanting to find a use for the 12 wonton wrappers I had leftover from these babies, and this looked like a great choice for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Now I’m going to say this right up front – I was so proud of myself for how good these turned out. There are many many times when I try recipes and the final outcome just isn’t the picture of perfection that I think I’m going to end up with. Plus, this was actually my first time frying anything! I know, it’s not that big of a deal. But I was just afraid I’d mess it up. Our stove has a mind of its own and I wasn’t sure if it was at the right temp, if I used enough oil, etc…but they came out perfectly! So, needless to say, I am very proud of myself. 🙂 Ok, on to the recipe.

I started by mincing up some garlic – 2 big guys and a baby.

And despite the recipe’s call for fresh mozzarella, I rolled with string cheese. What can I say, it was already in the fridge.

So I minced up the garlic and cut the string cheese into 12 little nuggets.

Before I assembled the wontons, I put the oil on the stove over medium heat. The recipe used coconut oil but I used canola. Then I put one cheese nugget, garlic, and a little pepper into the center of each wonton. I used an overflowing 1/4 teaspoon of garlic for each wonton, and the boyfriend and I agreed that it was the perfect amount.

Then I brushed 2 edges of the wonton with water and folded them into triangles. Once all 12 were made I carefully slipped them into the hot oil, 4 at a time. I knew I was on the right track because the oil sizzled when I put them in and they started turning golden brown right away.

I turned them over with a slotted spoon to cook both sides until they were nice and crispy. I transferred them right to a plate lined with paper towels to sop up the extra oil.

One thing I forgot, which I mentioned to do with the raviolis, is to press around the filling before sealing to get the air bubbles out. Otherwise it’ll blow up like a balloon when you put it in the oil and it won’t brown evenly, like this little guy.

We warmed up some marinara sauce for dipping – Target brand tomato, basil and garlic.

These were such a treat! We gobbled them right up.

So crispy on the outside (not greasy at all!), and warm and gooey on the inside.

The only thing I would do differently next time is use shredded mozzarella. The string cheese worked great, but it didn’t distribute throughout the wonton. I think that if I sprinkled the whole wonton with shredded mozzarella instead, it would make it so you’d get cheese in every bite. But that’s the only thing I’d change!

I’m so excited to have discovered wonton wrappers. While we were eating these, the boyfriend and I brainstormed about what else would be good to fill these with – jalapenos and cheddar or pepperoni and cheese are the next combos we’re going to try!