Peanut Butter Chocolate Covered Dates

My friend, Michelle, mentioned nut butter stuffed dates which sounded like a delicious treat! I decided to try this with a tweak- of course!  Someone said it tastes just like a snickers bar. While, I don’t agree with that assertion, they are delicious!

It took a few tries to get this right. On the first attempt, I didn’t dip the entire stuffed date in chocolate. It needed more. My second brilliant idea was to make a bar. So I layered chocolate, date, peanut butter, then topped it with more chocolate. This was chocolate overload and I need a higher percentage of date. The bar idea will get another try but for now, I went back to dipping the entire thing. It is quick and just right.

Let me know if you experiment with this!

EQUIPMENT
Double boiler or microwave safe glass bowl

INGREDIENTS
10-15 pitted dates
5 oz. 60% chocolate, chopped 
2 Tbsp of your milk of choice
1 Tbsp of butter
Creamy, unsweetened, peanut butter, like Smuckers Natural

METHOD
Open the dates and use a knife to fill the center with peanut butter. It is ok if it doesn’t close all the way. 

Set up the double-boiler with water in the base and the chocolate in the top. Heat gently over medium-low to medium. Once the chocolate is just melted, stir in milk and butter. 

Dip each stuffed date in the melted chocolate and set aside on a freezer safe plate. Place them in the freezer and allow to freeze for a few hours. This is the secret sauce! Freezing gives it a great texture and flavor! 

NOTES
I love the softer, “sugary” dates for that melt in your mouth texture

I have had better results with the chocolate over the double-boiler. If you choose to microwave, heat in short bursts until the chocolate is just melted.

I have used both Guittard semi-sweet and Ghiradelli 60%, which are easy to find at my local store.