Garlic Sticks

I listen to the radio as I drive to and from work every day which means that typically my entire day only consists of 20 minutes of radio listening. Therefore, I have to pick my station very carefully. In the mornings, I am always hard pressed to find a station playing music constantly so I pick my go-to station by the characters on the morning show. I've settled into a station that I like here and one of the things that they do shortly before 9am (which is typically when I'm finishing up my drive in) is list 5 random facts of the day. Sometimes they are funny, sometimes they make you think, sometimes they are a little gross. But regardless I can start my day off my learning something.

Earlier this week, one of the facts of the day was that not having friends can be hazardous to your health. The study they were quoting apparently said that being friendless is like smoking 15 cigarettes a day. How or why someone measured that is beyond me but it made me thankful for all of my wonderful friends. Throughout all of the stages of my life, my friends have helped to brighten my days and I suppose to keep me healthy. For that, my friends, I thank you. And as I move on to the next stage of my life and make new friends (here's hoping), I want to thank you in advance for keeping me healthy.

So put down those "cigarettes", invite some friends over, and fellowship over these garlic sticks. They are a perfect combination of garlic and cheese and soft and crunch.

Garlic Sticks (Topping adapted from One Preppy Cookie)
Ingredients:
1/5 recipe frozen homemade pizza dough (if you want to up the amount of garlic, when you make the pizza dough use garlic infused olive oil instead of regular olive oil)

1 tbsp freshly shredded parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp onion powder
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Let the frozen pizza dough thaw over the course of the day in the refrigerator. Remove from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature covered with towel for 10-30 minutes before baking.

Preheat oven and baking stone to 500F.

Whisk the parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and onion powder into the melted butter.

Roll or pull the dough into a circular shape, as thin as you can; brush with the butter mixture and sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese. Transfer to the preheated baking stone.

Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden and crunchy. Let cool for about 5 minutes before slicing.

Serve with pizza sauce (homemade or other) for dipping.