I haven’t been much in the mood for baking lately (with the exception of making sourdough bread). Instead whenever I’ve been craving a homemade dessert I have turned to these no-bake Chocolate covered Dates stuffed with Speculoos cookie spread and pecan. They are incredibly addictive!
Just 5 ingredients and no baking!
These speculoos spread & pecan stuffed chocolate dates are the kind of sweet treat that is impossible to resist. I rarely make the same dessert twice as I enjoy trying new recipes, but these “truffles” are all I’ve been making at home lately. During the Christmas holidays, I bought a large box of Iranian medjool dates and made my best batch of these truffles yet!
Better, juicier, plumpier dates will make this recipe better, but even if you are using pretty basic supermarket dates you will achieve great results.
The special ingredient that makes everything better (in my humble opinion) is the Speculoos spread. Speculoos is a type of thin spiced biscuits, traditionally baked for St Nicholas’ Day in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The same brand makes a smooth and tasty biscuit cream, which I often use in cakes or cookies. You can find it as ingredient in my Speculoos Cake Pops , Speculoos & White Chocolate Truffles, and in my Speculoos Chocolate chip cookies.
Next time you are looking for an easy to prepare, quick, and delicious dessert to wow your family or friends with, give these chocolate dates a go. I promise you: everyone will love them! Well, except people who have a nut allergy or hate dates, but hey you can’t please everyone.
Or maybe you can? Please everyone? These chocolate date truffles are extremely versatile and the recipe can be tweaked to suit your tastes and needs!
Recipe substitutes
You could substitute the dates with dried prunes or dried figs, for example. You could skip the pecans, if you want to make a nut-free treat. If you don’t have Speculoos spread at home or can find any in your city, you can use a nut butter like peanut or almond or cashew.
And of course, you can play around with the coating too: white, milk or dark chocolate are all delicious here!
As for the sea salt flakes on top, I personally think salt makes these chocolate covered dates taste better. My dad is the only person I know who disagrees and removed each salt flakes from the dates before eating them. If you have a person like my dad in your life, prepare a small batch without salt on top. It might be because they have a sweeth tooth, in that case I recommend using milk chocolate rather than a bitter dark one.
Gift them to your friends and family!
These chocolate, pecan and Speculoos spread dates make fantastic gifts! Once the chocolate has completely cooled in the fridge, pack these truffles in a small ziplock bag or – if you are feeling fancy – in a jar with handwritten label! Store them in the fridge or in a cold spot, and they will keep good for many days.
I have been spreading the love for these chocolate dates to friends and family at Christmas time. Everybody has been very appreciative of them. Who wouldn’t, these chocolate covered dates are really tasty!
Ingredients
Yield 20 truffles
- 20 dates
- 2 bars of dark chocolate
- 20 raw pecans*
- 50-100g Speculoos spread
- 1 tbsp sea salt flakes
*but if you can buy caramelised pecans, that’s even better!
Preparation
Gently open a date and stuff it with about 1/2 teaspoon of Speculoos spread. Top the spread with a pecan nut and close the date. Repeat with all the dates.
Melt the chocolate in a bain–marie or in the microwave. Dip the stuffed dates in melted chocolate until they are fully covered. Allow the excess chocolate to fall off (I use wooden skewers to lift and dip the truffles).
Place the chocolate-coated dates on clean baking paper and immediately sprinkle the top with sea salt flakes (or rock salt). Wait until the chocolate solidifies completely (either in the fridge or on a counter in a cool place of your house. Then, store the truffles in an airtight container. You can keep them for over a week without problems.
