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You are here: Home / Cooking Times / a) 30 mins or less / Bacon Wrapped Dates stuffed with Cream Cheese

Bacon Wrapped Dates stuffed with Cream Cheese

22nd January 2018 - By Michelle Minnaar
This post may contain affiliate links.

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Who doesn’t like savoury bites? To be honest, I have a weak spot for little savory snacks. Bacon wrapped dates is something you can try out next time you have guests over, ideal as a starter or party food.

Cream Cheese Bacon Wrapped Dates

For New Years’ Eve, I made these bacon wrapped dates and devils on horseback, because this was my last meal of ever eating pork! That’s right, I’m systematically becoming vegetarian.

However, being such a food lover as I am, it’s not easy to cut out all meat all at once. Therefore, I am starting off by slowly reducing my meat consumption while upping vegetarian intake.

I found the bacon wrapped dates with cream cheese to be the perfect cocktail finger food for New Years’ Eve. My guests loved to nibble on these before the dinner and polished everything off.

The combination of the sweet date, the full cream cheese and the salty crispy bacon around it is simply divine.

more about dates

Dates are the fruits of the date palm, and the trees have been around for thousands of years because of their sweet fruits. Apparently, the date palm originates form the Middle East.

Dates Slit

There is archeological evidence for the ancient cultivation throughout the Middle East and North Africa, and it is also here that the most dates are grown today. Ancient tradesmen and explorers brought the date to Spain and later to the New World.

Today, date palms are grown in California and Mexico too where the climate is warm enough for the palms to bear fruit. Date palms can be found throughout most of the Mediterranean countries, however most places are too cold for them to bear any fruit.

Semi-dried dates can be found all year around in the shops but are particularly popular around the holidays. Dates have a sweet taste with hints of caramel and honey in flavour.

They can be eaten straight just as a snack. Or when pitted, they can be used for cooking, such as in Moroccan tagines, or in this case my bacon wrapped dates with cream cheese.

Cream Cheese

preparation

It can be tricky to pit the dates yourself without making a mess of it. For greatest convenience, I recommend buying dates already pitted, if possible.

With a small sharp knife, slice the side of the date open that it resembles a small pita bread. This way you can get lots of stuffing in there, but it will still hold together, thanks to the bacon.

Fill with cream cheese and wrap half a slice of streaky bacon around the now stuffed date. Seal the concoction using a wooden toothpick. This way the bacon will stay in place during the cook, as it would otherwise shrink, twist and fall off.

In the oven they go and that’s actually all there is to it. Easy peasy, huh?

As you can see it’s a simple snack to prepare but, trust me, your guests will still be impressed by it. Especially once they taste this gorgeous flavour combination.

Stuffed Dates Raw Bacon

serving

If you decide to serve the bacon wrapped dates as a starter rather than a canapé, I recommend something green to go with them. For instance, you can keep along the Levantine line and serve three or four on a plate with a bit of tabbouleh or a fattoush salad.

Tabbouleh comes from the Maghreb region of Northern Africa and is popular throughout the Middle East. This salad comprises chopped fresh tomatoes fresh parsley, mint and spring onions mixed together, dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

The flavour of the tabbouleh plays well with the bacon wrapped dates with cream cheese, as well as the fattoush salad. If you serve the bacon wrapped dates as a party food there is just one thing to keep in mind. Make sure that you make enough – these things fly off the plate!

Similarly, you can also serve it with other party food. These include the asparagus wrapped in Parma ham, stuffed cherry tomatoes, bacon wrapped sweetcorn or bacon wrapped pork sausages with sweet sticky apple. Nobody can resist these!

Skewers Bacon Date

variations

Should you not like bacon, you can replace it with a strip of Parma ham. Or you can use another type of dried ham that you like. You will keep the salty savory contrast to the dates and the cream cheese only without the smoky flavour from the bacon.

If you prefer not to have any meat at all, you can of course leave out the pork. In this case use a little less of the filling and carefully close the date with a toothpick. If you do it right, each date should still hold its shape and filling.

Bacon Dates Cooked

If you want to spice it up a bit you can sprinkle the dates with chili powder before baking. You can also use a cream cheese that is not plain, for example one infused with herbs or with paprika.

You can also mix your own herbs in the cream cheese before stuffing the dates with it. If you want to make it even more Middle Eastern, stuff the bacon wrapped dates with tahini paste instead of cream cheese.

It’s surprisingly good. Plus, it’s also a good way to get some umami flavours going.

Horseback Dated Evilson

A sweet tooth?

Now this may seem a bit odd taking about bacon wrapped dates. You can also turn the pitted dates into a quick and delicious dessert. Instead of filling them with cream cheese and wrapping them in bacon, you can fill them with marzipan instead!

Obviously you shouldn’t wrap them in bacon and oven-bake them if you do this. Even though the holidays are over, marzipan filled dates are still a nice little winter treat that you can enjoy with your tea or coffee instead of a biscuit.

If you find the marzipan too sweet, you can use chopped walnuts, almonds or pecan nuts instead.

What is your favourite way to enjoy dates?

Print
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Cream Cheese Bacon Wrapped Dates

Bacon Wrapped Dates Stuffed with Cream Cheese


★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

  • Author: Michelle Minnaar
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
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Ingredients

  • 12 pitted dates
  • 6 rashers streaky bacon
  • 100g (3oz) cream cheese

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 200°C/180°C fan/390°F/gas 6.
  2. Cut the bacon rashers in half.
  3. Make a slit, from top to bottom, in each date.
  4. Using a teaspoon, stuff each date with cream cheese.
  5. Wrap each date with half a slice of bacon and secure the end of the bacon with a toothpick.
  6. Arrange the dates on a baking sheet and cook for around 15 minutes until the bacon is cooked and crisp. Don’t forget to turn the dates halfway through for even cooking.
  7. Serve warm or at room temperature.

  • Category: Starter
  • Cuisine: English

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 serving
  • Calories: 292
  • Sugar: 15.8 g
  • Sodium: 75 mg
  • Fat: 19.3 g
  • Saturated Fat: 5.5 g
  • Carbohydrates: 19.4 g
  • Fiber: 2 g
  • Protein: 12.5 g
  • Cholesterol: 28 mg

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tracey Peach says

    22nd January 2018 at 1:12 pm

    You can’t beat a beef steak I always say 🙂 x

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • michelle says

      23rd January 2018 at 11:28 am

      🙂

      Reply
  2. Tracy Nixon says

    22nd January 2018 at 1:28 pm

    A nice steak Diane served with a jacket potato and a selection of vegetables!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • michelle says

      23rd January 2018 at 11:29 am

      wow, sounds incredible

      Reply
  3. Amanda J Tanner says

    22nd January 2018 at 4:52 pm

    A nice meal, prosecco and a nice man.
    Subscribed to newsletter as well

    Reply
    • michelle says

      23rd January 2018 at 11:29 am

      HAHA! Great answer Amanda. 😀 😀

      Reply
  4. Amanda J Tanner says

    22nd January 2018 at 4:54 pm

    I don’t actually like dates I’m afraid.

    Reply
    • michelle says

      23rd January 2018 at 11:30 am

      Oh shoot. OK, then I suggest substituting the dates with small red peppers or prunes.

      Reply
  5. sam macaree says

    22nd January 2018 at 4:54 pm

    date brownies

    Reply
    • michelle says

      23rd January 2018 at 11:30 am

      these are great!

      Reply
  6. Solange says

    22nd January 2018 at 5:38 pm

    I like pitted dates in a morning smoothie. I especially love dates blended with banana and cardamom spice. Dates, orange, banana, and coconut milk is another great combination.

    Reply
    • michelle says

      23rd January 2018 at 11:31 am

      WOOOOOW. You just inspired me for trying this! Nom nom
      Thanks Solange

      Reply
  7. Kim Neville says

    23rd January 2018 at 11:53 pm

    In a Tuna or chicken salad

    Reply
    • michelle says

      24th January 2018 at 7:16 am

      good idea!

      Reply
  8. Liam Bishop says

    24th January 2018 at 10:11 am

    Always in a sticky toffee pudding! My second favourite is eating the dates as I am chopping them to go into the pudding!

    Reply
    • michelle says

      24th January 2018 at 6:14 pm

      ooh nice!

      Reply
  9. Katherine Lawson says

    25th January 2018 at 9:55 pm

    I love using dates in vegan brownies! I’m not vegan but have a lot of vegan friends so it’s great to bake treats for them as well.

    Reply
    • michelle says

      26th January 2018 at 9:36 am

      OOOOh… then make sure you forward them my recent vegan posts! They’ll love them. I made a collection of 106 vegan recipes. 🙂

      Reply
  10. Melissa Lee says

    27th January 2018 at 1:18 pm

    I really like them in baking to replace sugar – for example in brownies

    Reply
    • michelle says

      27th January 2018 at 3:08 pm

      so clever!

      Reply
  11. cheryl hadfield says

    28th January 2018 at 3:35 pm

    date and coconut brownies are gorgeous

    Reply
    • michelle says

      28th January 2018 at 7:20 pm

      agreed!

      Reply
  12. Jayne Kelsall says

    30th January 2018 at 2:43 pm

    Got to be jam because of their natural sweetness x.

    Reply
    • michelle says

      31st January 2018 at 8:50 pm

      nice

      Reply
  13. Alica says

    5th February 2018 at 3:21 pm

    I love them in sticky toffee pudding!

    Reply
    • michelle says

      6th February 2018 at 10:19 pm

      what a great idea!

      Reply
  14. Natalie Crossan says

    5th February 2018 at 11:04 pm

    In sticky toffee pudding x

    Reply
    • michelle says

      6th February 2018 at 10:22 pm

      lovely!

      Reply
  15. Jayne Townson says

    20th February 2018 at 10:25 am

    I love adding them to my homemade flapjacks. Thanks for this lovely giveaway.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • michelle says

      20th February 2018 at 2:37 pm

      you’re welcome! 🙂

      Reply
  16. Leila Benhamida says

    20th February 2018 at 12:19 pm

    I absolutely love dates. My mum makes so many great recipes with date. I enjoy mine with semolina that we cook on a gas stove and mix it with dates. So nice as it is a big part of my childhood.

    Reply
    • michelle says

      20th February 2018 at 2:39 pm

      thanks for sharing Leila. You’ve just given me an idea 🙂

      Reply
  17. Margaret Clarkson says

    24th February 2018 at 5:44 pm

    In a sticky toffee pudding

    Reply
    • michelle says

      25th February 2018 at 9:09 pm

      nice

      Reply
  18. sharon martin says

    27th February 2018 at 12:14 pm

    i like mine in a loaf cake with walnuts

    Reply
    • michelle says

      7th March 2018 at 8:05 pm

      lovely

      Reply
  19. Cassandra D says

    27th February 2018 at 11:16 pm

    With bacon.

    Reply
    • michelle says

      7th March 2018 at 8:36 pm

      haaa I wish I could eat that. I gave up bacon since January 🙂

      Reply

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