Happy holidays! The last couple of days have consisted of family and friend get-togethers, which means lots of great food. Christmas Eve was an appetizer night, so I brought the amazing Fiesta Taco Potato Crisps from The Oh She Glows Cookbook, and my spinach dip. For Christmas breakfast, we feasted on our favorite Hash Brown Casserole and the Easy, Vegan Cinnamon Rolls. We had a wonderful dinner at our neighbor’s last night with a variety of vegan soups and the Festive Kale Salad from The Oh She Glows Cookbook. I brought the famous Party Cheese Ball, Pesto Potato Bread, Bourbon Balls, and these incredible Stuffed Dates. Talk about a food festivus! I always thought I didn’t like dates, but I think that’s because I’ve only had them pureed in something, and I’m not a fan of the mushy date. These, however, were an absolute winner. Everyone at the dinner last night wanted the recipe. Plus, they were so easy to make. I couldn’t find pitted dates and I feared it was going to be date carnage all over the kitchen when it came time to de-pit them, but I have to say, it was so easy and took no time at all. Just slice open on one side and remove pit—it’s that easy.
I had made two batches of cashew cream (one for the potato crisps; one for these) and divided the batches into these handy, dandy squeeze bottles. I finally got smart and picked up a couple. They made the process for the potato crisps and these stuffed dates sooooo much easier—and faster!
These dates are stuffed with cashew cream, an almond or pecan, and topped with orange zest. You can’t go wrong. You can easily change them up; imagine the possibilities!
INGREDIENTS:
40-45 dates, pitted or not
1 to 1-1/2 C roasted almonds and pecans
Zest from one large orange
1 C cashews
1/2 C water
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
DIRECTIONS:
To make the cashew cream, soak the cashews in water for at least 4 hours, or if you’re short on time, pour boiling water over them in a bowl and let soak an hour. Drain them and transfer to a food processor. Puree with the water, then add the apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, and salt. Transfer to a squeeze bottle. You can also use a pastry bag, but I find that to be messier and more difficult to store leftovers. If you use dates with a pit, simply take a sharp knife and slice open one side of the date and remove the pit.
Squeeze about 1/2 a teaspoon of cashew cream inside the date, add an almond or pecan, pipe in a bit more cashew cream, and top with orange zest. Voila! Repeat until you’ve filled all of the dates. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Enjoy!
- 40-45 dates, pitted or not
- 1 to 1-1/2 C roasted almonds and pecans
- Zest from one large orange
- 1 C cashews
- ½ C water
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp salt
- To make the cashew cream, soak the cashews in water for at least 4 hours, or if you're short on time, pour boiling water over them in a bowl and let soak an hour.
- Drain them and transfer to a food processor. Puree with the water, then add the apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, and salt.
- Transfer to a squeeze bottle. You can also use a pastry bag, but I find that to be messier and more difficult to store leftovers.
- If you use dates with a pit, simply take a sharp knife and slice open one side of the date and remove the pit.
- Squeeze about ½ a teaspoon of cashew cream inside the date, add an almond or pecan, pipe in a bit more cashew cream, and top with orange zest. Voila! Repeat until you've filled all of the dates.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve. Enjoy!
These sound really delicious. I love dates, but my easy version simply had an English walnut half inside and were rolled in granulated sugar. They were more like a dessert than an appetizer.
That sounds good too, Pat. Between the dates and the orange zest, these are also dessert-worthy as well.