Chocolate Date Hearts
For your sweetie or for yourself, make these Chocolate Date Hearts this Valentine’s Day!
Like many great culinary inventions, this one came about by accident. A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting at home watching a movie, when I felt like eating something sweet. Brownies would have been ideal, but they would have taken too much time and effort to make.
I scanned the room for a snack, and my eyes landed on two things – a Costco-sized bucket of pitted dates, and an almost-depleted bag of chocolate chips. I took a bite of date and threw in two or three chocolate chips in my mouth to eat it all together. Wow! I could hardly believe how well the two complemented each other! The chewiness of the date interspersed with velvety, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate.
Then, I took it a step further and stuffed the next date with chocolate chips. Popped it in my mouth. Yup, this definitely made my brownie cravings go away.
Just then, my husband called from work to say hi. I told him he needed to try a chocolate-stuffed date when he got home. He later agreed that this simple snack was so good, I had to share it! How was this not all over the internet yet??
For Valentine’s Day, I wanted to make chocolate-stuffed dates shaped like a heart and covered in more chocolate. I used Enjoy Life brand mini chocolate chips here, but regular-sized ones would work, too. Don’t eat this every day, people – they’re still really sweet! But looking at all the commercial candy full of refined sugars, artificial colors, and preservatives, I’d say these 2-ingredient chocolate date hearts would make a better choice for a lovely treat. My valentine of almost 8 years wholeheartedly agrees 🙂
Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!
Chocolate Date Hearts
Ingredients
- 20 pitted dates (I used deglet noor variety)
- 1 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips (dairy-free), for stuffing
- 3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips (dairy-free), for coating
- 2 wooden skewers, or 10 toothpicks
Instructions
- Stuff each date with chocolate chips until almost full. Gently pinch the ends of the dates to cover up the openings.
- Put two dates in the shape of heart, with the bottoms squished together. Carefully thread a wooden skewer through the date "heart" to hold it together (or use toothpicks). Repeat with the rest of the dates, 5 "hearts" per skewer. Rest skewers on a large plate lined with parchment paper.
- Melt 3 oz. chocolate chips in a small bowl over a double boiler or in the microwave. Use a small spoon to coat the top side of the date hearts with half of the melted chocolate. Place plate in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to let chocolate set.
- When set, gently remove each "heart" from the skewers. Re-melt the leftover chocolate, and dip the un-coated side of each heart. Place on plate and set in the refrigerator 15 minutes. Remove from refrigerator and enjoy!
Nutrition information below calculated below for 1 chocolate date heart.
