Bacon Wrapped Dates with Goat Cheese and Pecans
Ingredients
- 9 slices bacon, halved
- 18 medjool dates, pitted
- 4-ounces goat cheese
- 18 pecan halves
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 375°F and set the oven rack to middle position.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- Open the dates lengthwise, where they have already been opened, to remove the pits.
- If a date isn’t easy to open, slice it lengthwise but not all the way through.
- With a small spoon, partially fill the cavity of both sides of the date with goat cheese.
- For each date, place a pecan half in the middle of one side and press the sides together to close the date.
- Wrap each date with ½ half slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick.
- With the toothpick, dip each prepared date in brown sugar and press the brown sugar all around the date.
- Place the date on the prepared baking sheet and repeat until all dates have been filled.
- Place in pre-heated oven and bake the dates for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and turn the dates over.
- Return to oven and bake an additional 8 minutes.
- To caramelize the brown sugar on the dates, set the oven to broil and broil the dates about 1 minute per side; watch the dates closely once the dates are under the broiler.
- Remove the pan to a cooling rack and set the dates on a plate to cool to touch.
- The dates can be served as is or, if a smaller bite is desired, cut each date into 3 to 4 slices and serve as “pinwheels”.
Notes
The bacon will crisp better if wrapped around the date in one layer. Trim the bacon only long enough to wrap around once with just enough overlap to secure the toothpick through the bacon. If the bacon is too thick, it won’t crisp properly.
Also, try these stuffed with cream cheese and a whole almond.