Today I’m home again with yet another snow day. We got almost 20 inches of snow last week, and another 10 overnight last night. It also happens to be my husband’s birthday today, so I’m celebrating it the only way I know how: with chocolate and peanut butter. I made these chocolate covered peanut butter stuffed dates a few weeks ago, but I actually did make peanut butter cups this weekend as birthday gifts for both my dad and Kevin. Really, I’m not sure if I could have married a person who wasn’t as crazy about peanut butter as I am. Well, he’s not quite as crazy about it as I am, but, then again, who is? 
A few months ago one of my 7th graders asked me what a date is. He was reading about the ancient Egyptians, and saw that dates were a popular food for the upper classes. When I described them as hulked out raisins that are sticky-sweet and taste like caramel, he loudly announced to the class “I WISH PEOPLE STILL ATE DATES. THOSE SOUND SO GOOD!!”. When I told him dates weren’t lost to the sands of time with the ancient Egyptians, but were actually right in his local grocery store, he was so excited. He even wrote a note in his agenda book to have his mom buy some dates.
A few weeks later he came skipping into my classroom to tell me he finally tried dates. “Now I know why the Egyptians ate dates. They’re really, really good! It’s like eating candy!”. You’re telling me, kid.
When I told him I like to stuff them with peanut butter and dip them in chocolate, his eyed widened and he just stared at me for a few seconds. His only response was a quiet “woah”; for the rest of the class he looked at me like I held some sort of key to the universe. It was actually pretty hilarious. 
There’s no denying that chocolate and peanut butter hold a special place in my heart. These peanut butter stuffed dates are like a peanut butter cup crossed with a sea salt caramel, which is just about the most irresistible combo I can think of. 
The good news is, these are incredibly simple to make. Sticky sweet Medjool dates get cut open and pitted, then the hollow space inside is filled with peanut butter. If you have a particularly thick peanut butter, you don’t need to add anything to it before stuffing it in the dates. If your peanut butter is on the drippy side, I recommend mixing it with a little coconut oil and sticking it in the fridge to help it firm up before it goes inside the dates. Once the dates are stuffed, they go for a swim in a pool of melted chocolate, then get a generous sprinkle of flaky salt. A few minutes in the freezer will set the chocolate, then you can bite into these beauties. 
Salty dark chocolate yields to creamy peanut butter enrobed in sticky, caramel-sweet date in every bite. 
If you’re in the market for something special for Valentine’s Day, these peanut butter stuffed dates are exactly what you need. The humble, wrinkly brown date gets turned into a decadent looking candy that’s just a delicious as it is healthy. You could package them up in a tiny box for a friend or loved one, or set out a platter of them for your family to sample after dinner tomorrow. Plus, dark chocolate goes perfectly with a glass of red wine, right?
These are definitely the food of love.
If you make these quick, easy, gorgeous homemade candies, let me know! Leave a comment below or take a picture and share it with me on Instagram or Facebook
Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Stuffed Dates
Ingredients
- 12 Whole Medjool Dates*
- 1/4 cup salted peanut butter the kind with no added sugar or oil
- 1 Tablespoon room temperature coconut oil
- a tiny splash of vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate or your preferred type of chocolate
- flaky sea salt for topping
Instructions
- 1. Line a small plate or pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- 2. Combine the peanut butter, coconut oil and vanilla in a small bowl, and put in the freezer to firm up. This will make it so the peanut butter doesn't ooze out of the dates while you're trying to stuff and dip them. If you have a very thick peanut butter, you can skip this step and leave out the coconut oil. Just stir in the vanilla extract and proceed to stuffing the dates.
- 3. Remove the pits from the dates by making a slit down the side of each date, pulling it open, and removing the pits. Use your fingers to help open up the cavity inside each date to make space for the peanut butter.
- 4. Remove the peanut butter from the freezer and spoon about 1 teaspoon into each date. Close the dates and set them on the parchment-lined pan. When all dates are full of peanut butter, put the pan into the freezer to set.
- 5. Meanwhile, put chocolate into a small microwave safe dish and microwave in 30-second intervals until melted, stirring each time you remove it from the microwave. This should take about 2 minutes or less, total. Alternately this can be done on the stove in a small glass bowl set on top of a small pot of simmering water (aka a double boiler).
- 6. Remove the dates from the freezer, and dip each one in chocolate. I fully dipped some, and then just drizzled a generous spoonful over the rest. Sprinkle on a pinch of salt, and transfer them back to the freezer to set. After about 5 minutes, remove from the freezer and transfer to a container in the fridge. These are best kept chilled, and will keep for up to a week.
Notes