Chocolate Chip Sea Salt Almond Butter Stuffed Dates {vegan + gf}

Looking to satisfy your sweet tooth without wreaking havoc on your diet? Try making these 6-ingredient sea salt almond butter + chocolate chip stuffed dates! 

Halloween is next week, which means it’s time for a few October holiday traditions in my house: My husband and I always have a little pumpkin carving contest with each other, when we text photos of our masterpieces to family members to have them vote for the best one. We also always eating caramel apples and watch Hocus Pocus and some sort of scary movie – one of the Halloween movies usually.

Every year, we also have a tradition of dressing up Harley. It’s always hilarious to dress her up, then have her scare all of the neighborhood children when they come to the house to trick-or-treat and she starts barking like a maniac in her costume. In years past she’s been things like Batwoman (aka Batpuppy) and a headless horseman rider, and this year she’s a lion. We’ve already put the costume on her a few times and can’t stop laughing. 

I didn’t realize that the mane color would perfectly match her fur! It kind of just looks like a ridiculous doggie mullet, and I’m pretty sure she hates it, but this is the type of torture she has to put up with to be my very spoiled pet. 🙂

Halloween obviously makes us all think about candy. Truth be told, I rarely eat candy, but there’s something about having it in the house that makes me want to just eat a bunch. I try to buy candy that isn’t too addictive, like lollipops, but let’s be real, junk-filled food in general is designed to get people hooked. Case in point: I ate a Starburst for the first time in years a few days ago, and all of a sudden I had the desire to eat about 35 more. That’s processed sugar for ya! 

And that’s where healthy desserts like today’s recipe come into play. These stuffed dates are the perfect substitute for those Hershey bars calling your name this Halloween… or any other day of the year. After all, Medjool dates are truly nature’s candy! The fruit has been eaten for thousands of years, and provides us with nutritional benefits like dietary fiber.

To make these stuffed dates, we taking a small paring knife and carefully wiggle a hole into the side of pitted Medjool dates.

Next, we mix together some creamy almond butter, mini chocolate chips and a pinch of sea salt. I broke out the good stuff and used my fancy Fleur de Sel French sea salt for these babies.

Lastly, we melt a bit of coconut oil, brush it onto the dates, and roll the dates in shredded coconut.

It’s a healthy dessert that gives you a little bit of everything – the sticky sweetness of dates, richness from the nut butter, a bit of chocolate mixed with sea salt to give you that salty + sweet combo, and some coconut for a bit of a tropical twist. One stuffed date has a little over 100 calories, which makes it the perfect little treat in my book.

I also happen to think that a few of these dates are awesome to eat mid to late afternoon when I’m craving something sweet and want a little afternoon pick-me-up, or as a pre-workout snack.

Chocolate Chip Sea Salt Almond Butter Stuffed Dates {vegan + gf}

Foodie Loves Fitness

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Prep Time 10 mins

Total Time 10 mins

Servings 12

Calories 108 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 12 pitted Medjool dates
• 3 TBSP creamy almond butter you want it to be wet and drippy, not the bottom of the jar kind of dry
• 2 TBSP shredded coconut
• 1 TBSP mini chocolate chips
• 1 TSP coconut oil melted
• 1/8 TSP sea salt

Instructions

 

• Use a small paring knife to create a hole on one side of each date, wiggling the knife around inside the fruit to create some space to stuff the dates. You can also slice the dates in half lengthwise, then sandwich them back together after you fill them if you choose.
• In a small bowl, stir together the almond butter, mini chocolate chips and sea salt until evenly combined.
• Use the paring knife to spread some of the almond butter mixture into each date, gently sandwiching it towards the middle of the dates.
• Next, lightly brush each date with the melted coconut oil. Place the shredded coconut on a small plate, and roll each date in it, pressing the coconut into the dates to get some to stick.
• Keep the stuffed dates covered in a plate or bowl to enjoy as a healthy snack or dessert whenever your sweet tooth strikes!

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 108kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 2gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gFiber: 2gSugar: 16g

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Tell me… What’s your favorite Halloween tradition or candy?