*REPOST FROM OLD BLOG

Last Saturday was my 31st birthday which means overindulging in cheese, wine, and of course, sweets. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth though I do have a long history of making “Dr. Seuss” cakes as my mom puts it — wacky, half-melted, slanted cakes that look straight out of a child’s book but mostly reflect my impatience for waiting on cakes to cool before frosting. And this birthday, I did make one of those cakes… with so many crystal sprinkles, my friends thought it was illicit drugs rather than sprinkles.

Needless to say, I ate a lot of sweets this past weekend. But usually, I do not. I am a salt girl, not a sugar girl. And although Nick loves sweets (something I know was directly passed down to him from his dad), he cannot have them in the house. They won’t last and he can’t even blame me because I won’t eat them.

However, during covid, snickers stuffed dates went viral on social media. So I thought I would try making them as a way to indulge Nick’s love of late-night sweet treats… minus the guilt. Dates have lots of fiber and antioxidants and are naturally filling so two dates can satisfy a sugar craving easily and healthily. Now if only Nick stuck to eating two…

I was optimistically skeptical about making these as I am with most “viral” recipes but they have since become a staple in our house. With just a few ingredients and to my delight – some SALT – these are easy to make, store in the freezer, and pop out when you are craving a bit of sugar but don’t want to whip out an entire batch of cookies or break open a new chocolate bar. I like to think of them as “set it and forget it” where I’ll spend half an hour making a huge batch then slowly dole them out (or Nick inhales them).

Simply stuff pre-pitted Medjool dates with your choice of nut butter (I went classic with Justin’s creamy peanut butter), place a peanut or two on top, toss in melted chocolate (I went with a mix of dark and milk), sprinkle some sea salt flakes on top, then freeze! Literally that easy. And really does taste like Snickers. It’s wild but the date texture substitutes in for the caramel layer of a Snickers and BAM – it’s surprisingly close to the classic candy.

As a quick recipe note – you can drizzle the chocolate on top to make it easy to eat but to maximize the Snicker’s effect (and honestly I find it yummier), roll the stuffed dates in a bowl of melted chocolate so it’s completely covered then place it on parchment paper to cool as I did on the right.

INGREDIENTS

• 18-24 pitted Medjool dates
• 1 bag (10 oz) chocolate chips (I love to mix semi-sweet & milk)
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup peanuts
• Maldon sea salt

Serving Size: 18-24 dates depending on size

INSTRUCTIONS

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Using a small spoon, fill Medjool dates with a dollop of peanut butter as if the peanut butter was the pit, and filling it makes the date round.
• Gently press in 2-3 peanuts per date.
• Continue until all dates are complete, then place on the baking sheet and freeze for 10-15 minutes, allowing them to harden.
• Meanwhile, using a microwave or double boiler, melt chocolate chips (melt slowly so as not to burn).
• Gently roll each stuffed date in the melted chocolate and use a fork to place it on top of the parchment paper.
• Immediately sprinkle a bit of salt on the date before it cools too much.
• Continue until all dates are complete.
• Freeze. (They should be good to eat or pile into a sealed container/ziploc after 30 mins or so).
• Enjoy!