Bacon-Wrapped Dates with Goat Cheese – a simple 3-ingredient appetizer that will blow you away! Enjoy with a crowd of friends!
Well well well well well. What have we here? To my hungry eyes, this looks like bacon-wrapped dates: soft, sweet Medjool dates stuffed with creamy, tangy goat cheese wrapped in salty, smoky bacon and baked to crispy-soft perfection.
Years ago I decided to start a dinner club. One of my friends brought these bacon-wrapped dates as an appetizer during our very first DCM –> dinner club meeting –> because sometimes life is hard and I can’t be more creative than that with a dinner club name. Come on, you guys, just GIVE ME A BREAK.
We all bellied up to the peninsula in our old kitchen and she unwrapped the foil from the Bacon-Wrapped Date plate and BAM. They disappeared. So awesome, so alarming, and so right.
The soft, melty goat cheese inside the warm, plumped up date (how much do you like it when I say plumped up date? mixed feelings here) wrapped in the little bite-sized pieces of bacon was the absolute perfect three-way combo for our food-cray group of girls.
Obsessed doesn’t even touch it.
We’re using goat cheese here. Creamy, tangy, delicious perfection!
Thin bacon is best so it gets nice and crispy. It should wrap around about 1.5 times – just enough to get that bacon on all sides.
Basically what this is is me dealing with my annoyance about the bottoms of these little guys getting crispy-bacon while the sides stay chewy-bacon. It’s not evenly cooked and it’s not okay.
So my solution: stick a toothpick in each one and then use the toothpick to turn the Bacon Wrapped Dates every so often so that they get cooked on every side.
Bake at 350 degrees until nice and crispy! Turn them as needed so they’re browned all around.
I love this recipe exactly as it is, but it can also be a blank canvas for whatever sounds fun and fancy!
Here are some options and variations to try:
- Add a glaze: I’ve made this with the most delicious bourbon glaze, and it’s pretty easy to make! Just mix about 1/4 cup of honey with 1 tablespoon of bourbon and brush the mixture on the dates when they come right out of the oven.
- Add a drizzle: These are really delicious when finished off with a drizzle of balsamic glaze or something sweet and spicy like hot honey.
- Add nuts: When you stuff these with cheese, add a whole almond, almond, or pecan for some nuttiness and crunch.
- Use a different cheese: Goat cheese is my preferred cheese, but blue cheese or feta cheese also work beautifully!
Salty from the bacon, deliciously sweet from the dates, and creamy and tangy from the goat cheese.
The combo of all three flavors: MIND-BLOWING.
Since learning to make these, they have been made approximately one bajillion and one times – for dinner club, for date night, for holiday parties, for sitting on the couch on a Friday night. You can sit and chat while it all just crisps right up in the oven.
They’re so ridiculously easy while also being the most fancy-looking snack. Just what we like to see in the hustle and bustle of holidays and also LIFE.
Your salty-sweet, melty-cheese loving mouth is going to love them like whoa.
How do I get my bacon extra crispy?
First: check out the toothpick hack above. For crispier, browned bacon, set the oven temperature at 375. For crispier bacon, bake longer. Keep leftovers in the fridge.
My bacon didn’t cook. What did I do wrong?
Usually, my bacon pieces wrap around the dates 1.5 times. If it’s wrapping more than twice around the date, trim your bacon slices so they’re a little shorter. If that bacon layer is too thick, it won’t cook.
How did you make that glaze in the video?
Take these to the next level by putting a little honey bourbon glaze on top. Just mix about 1/4 cup of honey with 1 tablespoon of bourbon and brush the mixture on the dates when they come right out of the oven.
Should I use thick-cut bacon?
While I prefer thick-cut for eating, thin-sliced bacon actually works best here. It allows for the bacon to cook quicker and get crispier!
Can I use a different cheese instead of goat cheese?
Yes! Blue cheese or feta cheese also work great here.
Can you make bacon-wrapped dates in the air fryer?
Yes! Preheat your air fryer to 390 degrees, then cook for 8 minutes undisturbed. Give your basket a little shake (or turn them using the toothpicks) and bake for another 3-5 minutes. Done!
Bacon-Wrapped Dates with Goat Cheese – a simple 3-ingredient appetizer that will blow you away! Enjoy with a crowd of friends!
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice the dates lengthwise on one side to create an opening. Remove the pit.
- Using a spoon, stuff a small amount of goat cheese into the cavity of each date and press the sides together to close.
- Cut the bacon slices in half. Wrap each date with a slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick.
- Arrange evenly on a baking sheet with raised edges (otherwise grease will get everywhere) and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the dates and use the toothpick to turn each one so it’s laying on its side. Bake for another 5-8 minutes, until browned to your liking, and turn the dates to the other side and repeat. Remove from the oven, place on a paper towel lined plate, and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition information is for two bacon-wrapped dates.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: bacon-wrapped dates, goat cheese dates, bacon and goat cheese, date recipe
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our collection of best healthy snacks. Check it out!