Cafeteria-Style Bosco Sticks (“Faux-Sco” Sticks)

If you’re from the Midwest and were born between 1980-1999 chances are you know what a Bosco Stick is. If you’re unfamiliar, Bosco Sticks are bread sticks gloriously stuffed with mozzarella cheese then slathered with butter and dusted with cheap-o crumbled parmesan. Though Bosco Sticks were invented in a Michigan based pizzeria, they’re most known and consumed in High School cafeterias in the Midwest and now, I suppose, 45 other states.

I once read that if all of the Bosco Sticks sold in the United States were stacked end-to-end that they would span the entire country, coast to coast… 6 times. Crazy and potentially fake stats aside, these humble cheesy breadsticks were largely responsible for “nourishing” my friends and I throughout high school. There were few things as exciting as stumbling back in school after enjoying a smokey “lunch” to a pack of ooey-gooey Bosco Sticks and a cup of marinara.

This is my take on a homemade version of Bosco Sticks. The ingredients aren’t fussy, the technique is simple, and start to finish it shouldn’t take you longer than 2 hours. If you have some extra dough, just make bread sticks.

Check out the video by clicking here.

Yield: 6-8 sticks

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Cafeteria-Style Bosco Sticks (“Faux-sco” Sticks)

IngredientsUSMetric

“Fuex-sco” Sticks

• 1 tsp Active Dry Yeast (3g)
• 6 1/4 cups All-purpose Flour (1025g)
• 1/4 cup Extra-virgin Olive Oil (55g)
• 2 1/2 cups Water (595g)
• 1 1/2 tsp Sugar (21g)
• 1 Tbsp Kosher Salt (10g)
• 12 Mozzarella “String Cheese” Sticks
• 1/2 stick Unsalted Butter, melted
• Crunchy Salt, to taste
• Crumbled Parmesan, to taste

Instructions

“Fuex-sco” Sticks

1. Mix yeast and flours. Pour in olive oil, mix, then stir in the water and mix again until combined. Once the dough comes together, pour it out onto a lightly floured surface.
2. Knead for 5 minutes, sprinkle on the salt and sugar and continue kneading for 5 minutes more.
3. Divide the dough into 12 equal “log-shaped” pieces and let rise on the floured baking sheet covered with plastic at room temperature for an hour. The dough should double in size.
4. Once rested, use the palm of your hands to flatten each log into an oval, lay in a single mozzarella cheese stick, then pinch the dough closed to form a stick shape. Set each cheese-stuffed dough log onto a sheet tray lined with parchment, cover the sticks with plastic wrap and proof at room temperature for 30 more minutes. Preheat the oven to 425F and let charge with heat in the mean time.
5. Brush each bread stick generously with with butter then sprinkle on crunchy salt. Bake on the middle rack of the oven until lightly golden, about 15-20 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven, carefully baste with more butter making sure not to knock off too much salt then sprinkle on the parmesan crumble. Serve with Marinara sauce and/or Ranch AND FACE IT.