Bacon-Wrapped Dates

bacon wrapped dates

Bacon-wrapped dates make a quick and healthy appetizer recipe. Everyone loves bacon-wrapped dates. They also make a great snack — and they’ll keep in the fridge for days. (But I doubt you’ll end up with any left.)

This is an extremely easy appetizer recipe. The bacon-wrapped dates only take about 10 minutes to prep — then 15-20 minutes in the oven. You can have these bacon-wrapped dates ready in less than half an hour.

I suggest only buying nitrate-free bacon, ideally from a farm or producer you trust. I usually buy my bacon from Rocky Canyon Farm here in Los Angeles. They don’t feed their pigs soy, it’s not genetically modified, and they don’t use hormones or antibiotics. And all their bacon and sausage is nitrate-free.

Why Nitrate-Free? There’s a lot of research out there that suggests that processed meats containing nitrates cause cancer. Read this article, Consumer Warning: Processed Meats Cause Cancer, which says that “Processed meat consumption results in 67% increase in pancreatic cancer risk.” I think that’s reason enough to spend a few extra bucks on the nitrate-free variety.

Bacon Wrapped Dates

Ingredients:

Nitrate-free bacon (1 package (8 oz))
Dates, organic if possible (1 pound)

Equipment:

Baking dish

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut the bacon slices in half.
3. Pit the dates with your fingers or with a paring knife.
4. Wrap each date with a half a slice of bacon. Use toothpicks if necessary.
5. Set on a baking dish, ideally one with high sides, so the bacon grease doesn’t spill all over your oven when it melts.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the bacon gets crispy.
7. Remove from oven and transfer the bacon-wrapped dates to a serving platter.

Note: Make sure you save that perfectly good bacon grease — pour it into a cast iron skillet and use it for something else!

This post is a part of Kitchen Tip Tuesdays at Tammy’s Recipes, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays at Blessed With Grace and Blissfully Domestic. Visit Tammy’s Recipes, Blessed With Grace, and Blissfully Domestic for more recipes and kitchen tips.

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