Bacon wrapped, Goat cheese and almond stuffed Dates
This is the last of the “Stuff It!” party posts. I’ve actually never seen or eaten a date before making these little guys. Two weeks later, I’ve already made 3 batches. These have the perfect combination of salty and sweet, chewy and crunchy. I got hubby to help assemble them. They’re loosely based on a recipe from Allrecipes.
Bacon wrapped, goat cheese and almond stuffed dates – makes ~32
1 pkg pitted dates
4-5 oz goat cheese
~32 almonds
thick cut bacon
toothpicks
Cut the bacon in half and set aside.
Slice dates in half, and open them up. Scoop a small amount of goat cheese into the center of the dates (I used a teaspoon, hubby used his fingers). Place an almond in the goat cheese and close the halves of the dates.
Wrap a half-slice of bacon around the outside of the date. Secure each one with a toothpick. We found it was best to fill all the dates first, then wrap them all. Arrange in a baking dish or on a baking sheet with sides to catch any grease. 
Broil for about 5 minutes on each side or until bacon is cooked. We also threw these on the grill the second time around. They took a little longer, but were still delicious. 
Remove toothpicks before serving.
Note – I am submitting this in Joelen’s TGIF Martini Mixer blogging event. Check out the details here.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
This combines 2 of my husband’s loves – shrimp and cilantro! Love the ice cube trick too!
Yum, I love shrimp! Hadn’t thought to flavor it with pesto. Warm crusty bread would be yummy with it!
~ingrid
OH WOW so simple and so beautiful! I need to make myself some pesto cubes for moments like these 🙂
What a delicious and easy dinner! I’m lucky if I’m home by 8:30, so I completely understand needing quick recipes! I’ll have to try the frozen pesto trick.
i just made my first batch of ice cube pesto from our basil forest. neil panics every time i make pesto. he needs verification that i have not used up too much basil. if i use 10% of what is in the garden, then we are in the safety zone. let it grow back, use another 10%. at the end of the season, we will have 9000 cubes of pesto in the freezer and neil will be happy. totally jealous of your new stove, btw. i want a griddle!
I love the frozen pesto concept! I have a lot of basil, but there are only two of us in my house and we can only eat so much. I will have to try this. The shrimp looks great.
this looks great, and it really can’t get much easier
Hi there! Love this idea. Great job!
I was wondering where I can find pesto? Also, do you have any ideas for sides that would be good with this? I’m not familiar with pesto’s flavor and I want to surprise my husband with something 🙂 Thanks!
Jori – I make my own pesto using this recipe.