Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Dates

Name: Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Dates
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 tbsp Coconut Oil; 8 Medjool Dates (fresh and soft); 1 cup Dark Chocolate; ¼ cup Peanut Butter (smooth or crunchy)

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These Peanut Butter Dates are sweet, gooey, decadent. Stuffed with Peanut Butter and coated in delicious Dark Chocolate. They're easy to whip up, and great as a healthy snack to keep in the fridge. You could also give a box of these as a gift to friends or loved ones, as a healthier alternative to traditional chocolates.

Chocolate coated peanut butter stuffed dates topped with hemp seeds, on a white plate, with a grey striped linen underneath in the background. — Chocolate Coated Peanut Butter Stuffed Dates topped with Hemp Seeds

Contents:

What You'll Need
How to Make Them
Substitutions & Variations
Storage
Recipe Tip
Other Dessert Ideas
Recipe
Comments

What You'll Need

Ingredients

Coconut Oil - We add Coconut Oil to the melted Chocolate to stop the Chocolate from going too hard in the fridge, it also makes it lovely and silky, which is an added bonus.
Dark Chocolate - We always try to reach for dark Chocolate with a Cocoa percentage of 70% or higher. (More Cocoa equals more Flavonoids. And Falvonoids are Phytochemicals in nearly all plant-based foods, that have Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant properties).
Medjool Dates - Dates are full of Fibre, Iron, Vitamin A & Antioxidants, and we incorporate them in to our diet regularly. Fresh Medjool Dates work because of their caramel like flavour. If they’re a little dry, soak them in hot water for 10 minutes first to soften them. If you can't access Medjool dates, look for another soft date in your local store to use instead.
Peanut Butter - You can use smooth or crunchy Peanut Butter depending on your preferences. We chose to use a creamy smooth Peanut Butter and these turned out great.

Equipment

Glass Bowl
Greaseproof Paper
Fork
Saucepan if melting the Chocolate using the Bain-Marie method
Sharp Knife
Small spoon or knife

How to Make Them

Side by side photos. Halved medjool dates in the left hand photo, and in the right hand side photo is the halved dates stuffed with creamy peanut butter, both pictures on a white background. — Steps 1 & 2

Step 1 - Using a sharp knife, carefully slice the Medjool Dates in half, and remove the stones from the center.

Step 2 - Using a spoon or knife, fill the halved Dates with the Peanut Butter. You can add as much or as little as you like.

Side by side photos, on the left shows two date halves stuck back together, and on the right is the peanut butter stuffed date being dipped in to melted chocolate. — Steps 3 & 4

Step 3 - Place two halved Peanut Butter stuffed Dates together as shown above.

Step 4 - Melt the Chocolate and Coconut Oil together in the Glass Bowl, either using a microwave or a Bain-Marie*. Leave the melted Chocolate to cool for 5-10 minutes to allow it to thicken a bit. This will allow it to stick to the Date easier and you'll get a thicker Chocolate Coating.
Once cooled, add the Peanut Butter stuffed Date to the Chocolate.

Side by side photos of the melted chocolate covered date on a fork with the bowl of melted chocolate in the background,. And on the right is a photo of 8 of the dates freshly coated in melted chocolate, on a white sheet of greaseproof paper. — Steps 5 & 6

Step 5 - Using a fork, turn the Date over until it is full coated.

Step 6 - Place a sheet of greaseproof paper on to a plate, or flat oven tray, in order to make it easy getting the Dates in and out of the fridge.
Then put the Chocolate Coated Dates on to the greaseproof paper before transferring to the fridge to set.

If adding something on top of your Chocolate Covered Dates, such as Chopped Peanuts or Hemp seeds (like our photos), do so whilst the Chocolate it still melted, before transferring to the fridge to set.

Substitutions & Variations

Once the Peanut Butter Dates have been coated in melted Chocolate, you can choose to top them however you like. Here are some suggestions:

Hemp Seeds - These are a great source of plant Protein and plant based Omega 3 fatty acids. They're inexpensive to buy (usually from health food stores, although they are becoming more widely available in supermarkets), and they are a great topping for a lot of meals and snacks. We use them on pancakes, yogurts, porridge and ice-cream just to name a few.
Chopped Peanuts - Salted or unsalted Peanuts, depending on what you prefer. Simply chop some whole peanuts up and sprinkle them on top before placing the Dates in the fridge to set.
Sea Salt - Salty and sweet are a delicious combination (think Popcorn). Use good quality Seal Salt flakes, and NOT table salt.
Popping Candy - For something a little more fun, try topping with some Popping Candy!

Storage

Once set, store these in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. They will last up to two weeks in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer.

Hint: You can eat these straight from the freezer too - try it and let us know what you think.

Recipe Tip

*For the perfect Bain-Marie: Choose a saucepan with a diameter a bit smaller than a glass bowl you will use to melt the Chocolate in. Make sure that the bowl can sit snugly on top of the saucepan but, crucially, doesn't come into contact with the water at any point. Then with water boiling add the Chocolate to the glass bowl and stir gently until melted.

Can you make these with a different nut butter?

Of course you can. Try making them with Almond Butter instead, We have and they are also delicious!

Other Dessert Ideas

Here are a few of our other Delicious Recipes you might like to try.

For other healthy snacks for the family you should take a look at our Raw Peanut Butter Cookies, Choc chip Chickpea Cookies, and Banana Almond Butter Bites. All are tried, tested and loved by our Toddler.

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