PB Stuffed Dates
My mom always made these dates as an appetizer/snack/dessert food for family holiday parties. She says Thanksgiving only, but I swear I remember them from both Thanksgiving and Christmas! As a kid I would totally stuff myself on these and ruin my appetite for dinner. (Get it? Stuff myself? Ha.)
Happy Thanksgiving!
They are incredibly simple. Ingredients:
- Pitted dates
- Peanut butter
- Powdered sugar
Directions: Slice pitted dates along one edge. Put peanut butter inside with a butter knife. Roll in powdered sugar. Eat. You see? Simple.
Of course the devil’s in the details, so here are all the details. Mind you, these will still taste great even if you don’t worry about the details. But here goes.
Date type: My mom recommended using Medjool dates since they supposedly taste the best. But I used Deglet Noor dates since the Medjool dates at our store cost 3x as much, were 2-3x as big (not bite sized) and weren’t pitted! The Deglet Noors came out just fine.
Peanut butter type: I also used “natural” peanut butter since I thought that would make them seem fancy. However, in the future I think I will use regular peanut butter. (A) Why bother using peanut butter with no added sugar, when you’re about to put the peanut butter in a sweet fruit and roll it in sugar? (B) The natural peanut butter separates and the oil gets on the outside of the dates, making them sticky, which means you need even more sugar to make them not sticky! I stirred the peanut butter really well but it was very oily. I suppose maybe I should have poured off some of the oil from the top, then stirred. But next time I’ll just go with my cheap-o, homogenized peanut butter.
Stuffing method: The dates are pitted like an olive, so there is a cylindrical hole down the middle. Like I said in the directions, I sliced the dates along one side and stuffed them with peanut butter, kind of like a sub sandwich. But I suppose if you were really fancy you could use a frosting bag (or just a plastic bag with the corner cut off) and squeeze the peanut butter in one end. I may try that next time for better looking dates.
Sugar timing: I made these dates the night before, rolling them in sugar until they weren’t sticky. By the next morning, the sugar had sort of coalesced with PB oil and they were sticky again! So I rolled them in sugar again. They still tasted good and weren’t tooooo sweet (at least for me), but one sugar roll would surely have been enough.
These cookies are very straight forward to make, just like any chocolate cookies. Start off by setting up a double boiler to melt the bittersweet chocolate and the butter together. Be sure to keep the temperature low so not to burn the chocolate. Mix these two together until evenly melted and creamy.
Ok, to make the dough start by combining the butter, sugar, and eggs in the mixer. Blend them up until they are nice and fluffy. Now add in the flour, baking soda, salt, and vanilla. Finally, add in coconut flakes and mix them in well. Set the dough in the fridge for a while and take a break. You earned it!