Bacon-Wrapped Dates with Goat Cheese

Want to impress your friends and family? Stick goat cheese in some dates, wrap them with bacon, and bake 'em. Extra points if you can display them all on a wooden board before they're devoured! 

Ingredients: 

• 6 pieces Smokin' Oaks Organic Farms Bacon

• 12 dates

• 4 oz goat cheese (We like Nobel Springs goat cheese)

• 1 TB honey (local) 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Allow goat cheese to soften while you cut your dates in half on one side (like a butterfly cut) and remove seeds. Don’t cut them fully in half, you’ll want to close them back up after you stuff them with the goat cheese mixture. Cut bacon in half to make 12 equal pieces.

Mix goat cheese and honey. Using a small spoon scoop the goat cheese mixture into the middle of the butterflied dates. Wrap each date in a half strip of bacon and set on the parchment lined baking sheet. Be careful to have the open half of the date stuffed with cheese facing up and the loose end of the bacon touching the pan to keep it from unraveling.

Place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven for 15 minutes.