Name: Cookie Dough Stuffed Dates
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 16
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: whole dates; 1 batch chocolate chip cookie dough (below); 9 oz dark chocolate chips; coarse sea salt for garnishing; 1.5 cups almond flour; 1/4 cup peanut butter; 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1/4 cup maple/agave syrup; 1/4 cup gluten-free, vegan dark chocolate chips

Dates are stuffed with naturally sweetened, raw, edible, gluten-free, grain-free, vegan chocolate chip cookie dough, then dipped in dark chocolate and garnished with sea salt for the perfect sweet treat to bring to all your festive parties!

Dates. I’m not talking about the spending-time-with-someone-hoping-to-find-mister(or mrs.)-right kinda dates. I’m taking about maybe nature’s sweetest candy that has been around since the beginning of time kinda dates.

And I’m not just raving about dates on their own, although I certainly could. I’m losing my mind over perhaps the greatest and easiest dessert recipe on my blog to date. I decided to take my raw, edible, vegan, gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (almond flour version) and stuff it inside of dates, then dip it in dark chocolate and garnish with coarse sea salt. Mind. Blown. Pass me another please!

(Just got up to go to the fridge to grab one, brb). Ok, I’m back. Yum. So I’ve been trying to watch my sugar intake, because sugar is no bueno for the thyroid- but y’all, I have a sweet tooth. It’s not quite as bad as it used to be, but I do enjoy me some sweet treats. These Cookie Dough Stuffed Dates are deliciously sweet, and I’m proud to say completely naturally sweetened. Yup, that’s right!

And in fact, I find that eating just one of these Cookie Dough Stuffed Dates is plenty to satisfy my sweet tooth. A suggestion, make sure you find dark chocolate that is not sweetened or I think these little gems just might be too sweet. I used Lily’s vegan, gluten-free dark chocolate baking chips and their dark chocolate baking bar in this recipe and it’s the perfect chocolate for this recipe.

I mean, if that doesn’t wanna make you just take a bite… Oh, did I mention that the cookie dough only requires 6 ingredients and is in it’s edible dough form in less than 10 minutes? Boom. I also suggest you buy dates that still have the pits, I find them to be a little moister. It’s kind of tedious to remove all the pits, but if that’s what takes the longest, I’m ok with that. If you find pitted dates that don’t look too dry, go for it… bonus!

And don’t skip the salt garnish. I recommend buying coarse salt and sprinkling it on the chocolate while it’s still melted, then you’ll pop these in the fridge for like 10 minutes and be ready to place them on your holiday platter and wow all your friends. These Cookie Dough Stuffed Dates are the perfect holiday party dessert that won’t take a lot of time, money, ingredients, or sugar but sure taste like a million bucks! Is that even a thing? I don’t know, just go make them 😉

Cookie Dough Stuffed Dates

Yield: 16 stuffed dates

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

whole dates
1 batch chocolate chip cookie dough (below)
9 oz dark chocolate chips
coarse sea salt for garnishing

Cookie Dough

1.5 cups almond flour
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup maple/agave syrup
1/4 cup gluten-free, vegan dark chocolate chips

Instructions

Slice open and remove the pits from your dates (if you didn't purchase pitted dates).
In your food processor, blend together all cookie dough ingredients except the chocolate chips until a dough forms.
Transfer the dough to a medium bowl and fold in the chocolate chips.
Generously stuff each date with cookie dough and set aside on a plate.
Line plate/baking sheet with parchment paper
Melt 1 cup of dark chocolate chips either in the microwave, or using the double boiler stovetop method.
Dip the ends of each date into the melted chocolate and place on the parchment lined plate/sheet.
Garnish each date with coarse salt.
Place in the fridge to set up for about 10 minutes and then transfer to a covered dish and keep in the fridge until ready to serve.