A few weeks ago, I had to bring an appetizer to a party.  While working with my Greek to Go team, one of my coworkers started talking about stuffed dates with goat cheese.   Immediately, I had a beautiful memory of my beloved mom making stuffed dates with walnuts and I loved them. Like “devour the whole plate” kind of love!

So while talking, I said what about stuffing each date with a walnut and goat cheese, wrapping them in a strip of bacon, then drizzling them with honey.  From our conversations, we realized you can take this basic recipe and do different variations with very little effort and it tastes and looks amazing.  So here you go!

Recipe for 20 dates: 

• One container of dates – I like Medjoul dates, pitted is better – but you can remove the pit at home quite easily
• 8 oz of soft goat cheese
• A hand full of walnuts 
• 10 slices of bacon 
• Honey or fig jam to drizzle on top

Preheat oven to 350*

Place 10 strips of bacon on a parchment or lined baking sheet, and par-bake until the fatty portions begin to look translucent. About 10 minutes.

In the meantime, take each pitted date, slicing lengthwise, but not all the way through. Stuff with goat cheese using a small spoon. Then, push one walnut into the goat cheese.

Remove bacon from the oven, and allow it to cool to the touch. Cut each strip in half to create 20 portions. Wrap each stuffed date with bacon, and placing back on the cooking sheet. If your bacon seems a bit short, secure the bacon with a toothpick if needed. Or, place seam side down to secure.  

Return the bacon-wrapped date to the oven. Bake at 350 until bacon is crisp. Remove from the oven, transferring each date directly to your serving plate. Drizzle with honey or warmed fig jam. 

Fun variations: 

• Mix goat cheese with some feta
• Swap prosciutto for the bacon
• Swap or remove the walnut – try pistachios! 
• Dairy-free? Remove the cheese – and just use a walnut.