Chocolate Covered Dates

Creamy almond butter stuffed chocolate covered dates are rich, indulgent, and sophisticated; the perfect little two-bite desserts. Make these over the weekend to satisfy your sweet tooth in a healthier way all week long.

Want to indulge in just a couple of bites of something sweet to accompany your tea or coffee or to end your day, but don’t want a huge portion of something heavy? These almond butter filled dates covered in a thin layer of dark chocolate are exactly what the doctor ordered. And honestly, even though these taste like the wealthy cousin of a Snickers bar, your doctor would probably approve this dessert!

Dates are an excellent source of iron, dietary fiber, and antioxidants. Not only that, but they are a modest source of Vitamin A which is vital for skin and eye health. All this and the foundation for our irresistible dessert, too!

Add to that almond butter’s heavy-hitting health benefits like helping to lower cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar as well as supporting skin health and digestion, and I think you’ll agree that this is a better for you dessert option. It’s truly a win/win choice for sweets!

Dates Covered in Chocolate

To make these chocolate covered dates, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Medjool dates
• almond butter
• dark chocolate chunks or chips
• extra virgin coconut oil
• flaky sea salt

I usually purchase already pitted Medjool dates for this recipe just to save a couple of minutes of time. If you can’t find those, it’s really easy to pit the dates yourself. Just use a short knife to cut a slit in the date from end to end.

This will allow you to pry the date open and easily pop the pit out. Ta da!

When it comes to almond butter, you can choose whichever type you like the best. I’m partial to using the little single serving packets of vanilla almond butter by Justin’s, which I keep around to stash in my purse for a quick on-the-go snack. You can also use plain almond butter from a jar, though! The recipe card gives instructions for using jarred almond butter.

If you use natural almond butter, give it a thorough stir before using. This will re-incorporate any almond oil that separated out so you have smooth and creamy almond butter inside your stuffed dates.

Chocolate Covered Dates Recipe

Line a plate with waxed paper or parchment paper.

Scoop the almond butter into a small sandwich bag or piping bag or use squeeze packets of almond butter. Twist or seal the bag shut and snip the corner off of the bag.

Working with one date at a time, pry it open a bit and pipe between 1 to 2 teaspoons of almond butter into the space left by the pit. Gently close the date around the almond butter and place on prepared plate. When all of the dates have been filled, slide the plate into the freezer for 30 minutes.

Put the chocolate chunks into a microwave safe jar. A wide-mouthed pint jar works perfectly for this project. Microwave for 1 minute. Remove the jar from the microwave, add the coconut oil and stir until smooth. If chocolate remains un-melted, you can microwave in 15 second bursts, stirring after each burst, until it is all fully melted and smooth.

Use two forks to dip each date into the melted chocolate, rolling it to cover completely, then allowing excess to drip away before replacing it on the plate. If desired, sprinkle with flaky sea salt immediately.

Repeat with the remaining dates. If you have remaining chocolate coating, you can drizzle it decoratively over the chocolate covered dates using a fork.

Serve immediately or store dates in a tightly closed container in the refrigerator for up to a week.