I guess by now it's obvious that I'm spending a bit more time in the kitchen. I blame Alexa. It's suddenly not so quiet and boring in there.
I've been making these bacon-wrapped dates pretty much every single chance I get for the past month. It started around Valentine's Day when I had just finished reading Shauna Niequist's book, "Bread and Wine" and she included her recipe for these. I planned to make them for our fun Valentine's Day dinner and then...I just kept making them. I put the ingredients on my grocery list almost every single week because I can typically find SOME kind of excuse to make them.
They're good hot or cold. Fresh from the oven or a day old. They're the perfect mix of sweet + salty + rich + savory.
Mmmmmm I want to make some right now.
They are a little labor-intensive, so be prepared for that. I prepare by making sure I make them when Jamie is around. It's easy to talk people into helping because eeeeeveryone loves the outcome.
You'll need:
1 package of pitted dates (8oz)
1 package of goat cheese (8oz)
1 package of bacon (12 oz)
Tin foil
Toothpicks
Laying everything out first is the key to making this not take forever. This whole process will be slippery and sticky and your hands will be a mess...it's best to just plow through doing it all, which is why getting everything out first is important.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Put two layers of tin foil on your big pan/cookie sheet to help minimize the mess/clean-up.
Dump out the package of dates on to a plate or cutting board. They should already be sliced and pitted, but sometimes they get really stuck together. It's just easier to have them all OUT of the package to grab.
Open the package of goat cheese and place on a plate with a spoon.
Open the package of bacon and slice it down the middle.
Grab your first date, open it up, slice some goat cheese on to your spoon, and smear it on the inside of the date. Try to sort of 'close' the date, even though this won't work because there's so much goat cheese inside. Goat cheese is easy to 'mold' but not super easy to smear. You'll figure it out after the first couple dates.
Fill all the dates with goat cheese and place them on your plate/cutting board.
After that's done, start wrapping each of them in bacon and placing them on the tin foil + pan. I put them on there with the seam of the bacon face-down and stick a toothpick through to hold them together.
One package of bacon isn't quite enough but two packages is way too much, so I make some of the pieces toward the end stretch a little bit.
Put them in the oven for 15-30 minutes depending on how crispy you like your bacon!
WAIT TEN MINUTES FOR THEM TO COOL BEFORE YOU EAT THEM OR YOU WILL HATE YOURSELF.
But then, my goodness. Enjoy the entire pan with your friends or family and don't think about how much bacon and cheese you're eating. They're small so it doesn't even seem like that much, but in reality...it's quite a lot. Like I said...it's best not to think about it.
Please make them this week and tell me what you think! They totally hold up to my hype, I promise.
MmB
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