Chocolate Covered Stuffed Dates (3 Ways!)

Name: Chocolate Covered Stuffed Dates (3 Ways)
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 18 large Medjool dates (pitted); 3 tbsp creamy almond butter; 3 oz dark chocolate (60-70% cacao, chopped (or dark chocolate chips)); flaky sea salt (such as Maldon, for topping); 3 tbsp creamy peanut butter (natural, no added sugar); 3 oz milk chocolate (chopped (or milk chocolate chips)); 2 tbsp roasted peanuts (roughly crushed, for topping); 3 tbsp pistachio butter; 3 oz white chocolate (chopped (or white chocolate chips)); 2 tbsp roasted pistachios (crushed, for topping)

In this post:

Why You’ll Love These Chocolate Covered Stuffed Dates
Ingredients You’ll Need
Almond Butter + Dark Chocolate
Peanut Butter + Milk Chocolate
Pistachio Butter + White Chocolate
What Kind of Dates to Use
How to Make Them
Victoria’s Tips
Easy Swaps And Variations
How to Store
FAQ
More Sweet Treats
The Recipe
More recipes you’ll love

My good friend is in her final month of pregnancy right now, and her doctor told her to start eating one date every day. Only problem? She absolutely hates dates.

So I took this on as a personal challenge because I am quite literally addicted to these chocolate covered stuffed dates, and this felt like the right opportunity to turn her into a date convert.

AND because I’m committed, I made three different flavors:

Almond butter stuffed with dark chocolate and flaky salt
Peanut butter stuffed and dipped in milk chocolate with crushed peanuts
Pistachio butter stuffed with white chocolate and crumbled pistachios

I’ve yet to hear her full review, but I feel pretty confident I’ve fully converted her into a date lover.

Update: I think we can officially consider this mission a success.

text message reading "very very good dates!!"

Two stacked chocolate covered dates cut in half showing almond butter filling

Why You’ll Love These Chocolate Covered Stuffed Dates

Super simple to make. No oven, no baking, you don’t even need to cook. Just melt the chocolate, stuff the dates, dip, and chill.
Only three ingredients: dates, nut butter, and chocolate. And if you want to be really strict, I guess you have to count the little toppings too.
They taste like candy but they’re actually made with real food.
Three different flavor combos so you can pick your favorite (and give your least favorite away to your boyfriend or housemate).
They keep in the fridge for a week or freeze for months, so prep them once and you’ve got snacks ready whenever you want them.
And if you think you don’t like dates, I’m pretty sure these will change your mind.

If you love no-bake snacks like these stuffed dates, my Pumpkin Spice Protein Balls are another one I keep coming back to.

Stuffed dates dipped in dark, milk, and white chocolate on a white plate

Ingredients You’ll Need

Doesn’t get much simpler than three ingredients per flavor. Or four, if you’re counting the toppings. The common thread here is dates + nut butter + chocolate.

Almond Butter + Dark Chocolate

Medjool dates
Creamy almond butter
Dark chocolate (60-70% cacao)
Flaky sea salt

Peanut Butter + Milk Chocolate

Medjool dates
Creamy peanut butter
Milk chocolate
Crushed roasted peanuts

Pistachio Butter + White Chocolate

Medjool dates
Pistachio butter
White chocolate
Crushed roasted pistachios

Looking for more snacks you can prep ahead and grab on the go? I put together 9 High-Protein Snack Ideas with 20+ grams of protein each.

Save this recipe

Love this recipe? Get it sent to your inbox.

What Kind of Dates to Use

Picking the right dates is one of the most important parts of this recipe. Not all dates are created equal, so here’s what to look for.

Medjool dates are the queen of all dates. They’re bigger, softer, and naturally sweeter, and they have this caramel-y chew that makes them so good. You might be tempted to grab Deglet Noor dates because they’re cheaper and easier to find, but it just won’t be the same.
Most Medjool dates in stores are grown in California or Arizona, or imported from Morocco, Jordan, Palestine, and Saudi Arabia. Middle Eastern and North African dates tend to be softer and more caramel-forward. And if you can pick some up from your local farmer’s market, they’re almost guaranteed to be good too.
When you’re picking them out, look for a plump, slightly sticky exterior, and go for the larger ones because they’re easier to stuff and hold more filling. Avoid any that look dry, shriveled, or have crystallized sugar on the outside. That means they’re older and they won’t be as soft.

Milk chocolate peanut butter and white chocolate pistachio stuffed dates on parchment paper

How to Make Them

There are a couple of steps here, but it’s super simple and honestly hard to mess up.

Step 1: Pit and stuff your dates. Slice each date lengthwise and remove the pit. Shape the date so the inside is hollow and rounded out so it’s easier to stuff. Pipe with nut butter using a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off, or just use a small spoon or knife. Be careful not to overstuff them because you’ll have a hard time dipping them in chocolate later.
Step 2: Freeze while you melt the chocolate. Put the stuffed dates on a parchment-lined plate and into the freezer for a couple of minutes. This helps the nut butter firm up so it doesn’t ooze out when you get to dipping.
Step 3: Melt the chocolate. You can use a double boiler or microwave, totally up to you. For the double boiler, fill a small saucepan with an inch or two of water, bring it to a simmer, and melt the chocolate in a bowl set on top. For the microwave, heat the chocolate in 20-second intervals, stirring between each one, until it’s smooth and glossy.
Step 4: Dip and top. Use two forks to dip each date, shake off the excess chocolate, set it on parchment, and immediately sprinkle with your toppings before the chocolate has time to harden.
Step 5: Let them set. Leave on the counter for up to an hour for a shinier finish, or pop them in the fridge for 15 to 20 minutes if you’re feeling impatient. Fair warning, they won’t be as shiny if you go for the fridge. Not sure what kind of chocolate science is happening here but I’ve tested it and its true.

Victoria’s Tips

I’ve made these about 1000 times so I’m pretty much an expert at this point. Here are my top tips:

Use bar chocolate over chips. Chocolate chips often have stabilizers added to them, which makes for a thicker melted consistency. You won’t get that thin, smooth, glossy coating.
Use ziplock bag for piping. It adds an extra step, but it’s way cleaner than spooning it in. Fold a ziplock bag over the edges of a glass, fill it with nut butter, twist up the end of the bag, snip a small corner off, and start piping.
Sprinkle toppings immediately. You’ve got a small window before the chocolate hardens. Once it starts setting up, nothing is going to stick. Have your toppings ready to go before you start dipping.

Easy Swaps And Variations

This recipe is a good opportunity to let your creativity run free. There are so many swaps and variations here. It’s totally up to you how you want to make these your own.

Mix up the nut butters. Cashew butter, sunflower seed butter, tahini, even Nutella if you’re feeling a little extra naughty.
Mix and match the chocolates. Nothing says almond butter has to go with dark chocolate. Almond butter + white chocolate + a dark chocolate drizzle? That sounds incredible. Or how about matcha tahini, or dark chocolate and an orange marmalade stuffing?
Press a whole roasted nut into the center of each date for a little added crunch.
Drizzle instead of dip. If you don’t want to deal with melting a full bowl of chocolate, just melt a little and drizzle it over the dates with a fork. A little healthier that way too.

Cross section of three chocolate dipped stuffed dates showing nut butter inside

How to Store

You can keep these in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week (though I don’t think they’ve ever lasted more than a day or two in my house).

You can also freeze them for up to 3 months, just let them sit out for like 5 to 10 minutes before eating.

If you’re the kind of person who likes prepping snacks for the week (same), my Homemade Protein Granola is another one that takes like 20 minutes and lasts all week. 11 grams of protein per serving.

FAQ

Are chocolate covered dates healthy?

They’re not a health food, but they’re a lot better than a candy bar. Dates have fiber and potassium, nut butter gives you protein and healthy fats, and chocolate has antioxidants.

Are dates good to eat during pregnancy?

There’s actually research on this. Studies show that eating dates in the third trimester may help support labor, and they’re a good source of fiber, potassium, and magnesium. My friend’s doctor told her to eat one a day in her final month, which is honestly the whole reason this recipe exists. If you or someone you know can’t stand dates on their own, this is a pretty good way to get them in.

Why do you freeze the dates before dipping?

If the nut butter is still soft when you dip, it oozes right into the chocolate and things get messy. Even 10 to 15 minutes in the freezer firms everything up enough that they hold together.