Bacon Wrapped Dates with Almonds
These simple, hyper-flavorful appetizers, which balance salty crisp bacon with sweet chewy dates, with a rich almond center, are a popular bar snack at the Red Cat in New York City. Served piled high on a plate, they're a perfect cocktail-party finger food.
Credit: Meredith Heuer
Ingredients
24 large moist dates, such as medjool12 not-too-thick slices of bacon
2 oz. softened goat cheese
24 whole toasted unsalted almonds
Instructions
1. Move oven rack to upper third of oven and preheat oven to 500°. Pit dates, tearing them open as little as possible. Set dates aside. Halve the 12 slices of bacon crosswise. Put the goat cheese into a pastry bag fitted with a round, plain ¼" tip.2. Stuff cavity of each date with 1 almond. Pipe goat cheese into the opening of each stuffed date. Wrap 1 half-piece of bacon around width of each date and put dates, seam side down, on a baking sheet, at least ½" apart. Bake until bacon is golden and crisp, 6-8 minutes. Set aside to cool briefly before serving.
Also, if you skip the cheese, it is not only lighter it is also quicker to make.