Searching for snackspiration? Back in August, Hoda and Jenna discussed Hoda's favorite almond butter-stuffed, chocolate-covered dates, inspired by a recipe from former TODAY staffer Samah Dada, whose photogenic recipes can be found on her blog Dadaeats. Hoda sang the praises of the sweet snack and revealed she's got her own personal way of preparing it.
After Hoda described the dessert she's been making, which involves stuffing the date with nut butter and chocolate and "nuking it," Jenna told her that, according to Dada's recipe, Hoda wasn't making it correctly!
"You said this was your favorite snack of all time and you told everybody about it," said Jenna, calling Hoda out for taking liberties with the treat. Apparently, there's more than one way to stuff a date — and to be honest, both methods sound pretty great.
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Thankfully, we get to to see Dada, an expert recipe developer and host of the TODAY original series #Cooking, demonstrate making the delectable dates which she says she keeps in her freezer for "emergencies."
"We've got our dates, we're going to pit them and leave a little bit of a crevice for our nut or seed butter," Dada explains. She then uses almond butter to stuff a date.
"After that, I'm going to let them take a bath in a little melted chocolate," she says, dipping the date in chocolate she's melted with coconut oil to give it a smooth, glossy look. "Let that take a swim," she instructs, getting the stuffed date totally coated in luscious, dark chocolate.
"Put that in the freezer for 25-30 minutes until the chocolate is hardened," she says. Dada says she likes to finish the frozen dates with "a little bit of flaky sea salt."
And although the treat looks amazing, Hoda takes issue with the fact that it's frozen.
"They are both delicious because Samah makes nothing but delicious things," Hoda said. "But the one I saw on Instagram, unless I'm dreaming, you put the dark chocolate square inside because who's making a bath? Who has time?"
"That date was supposed to swim in chocolate!" Jenna countered.
As for the correct temperature to eat the sweet treat at, Hoda also has a strong opinion.
"Nobody wants it frozen," she said.
Jenna has the perfect solution: a "date off" to determine the best way to serve these sweet treats. Jenna said she's willing to try one of Dada's frozen dates and one of the "nuked" ones that Hoda prefers.
"May the best date win," she said.
If you want to take Dada's "dating advice," she demonstrates the recipe in a video on Instagram, or see below for the full recipe!
Samah Dada's Almond Butter-Stuffed Chocolate-Covered Dates (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
- 10 medjool dates
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (you can also use half a bar of your favorite chocolate instead)
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- almond butter
Instructions
Pit dates.
Stuff each date with about half a tablespoon of almond butter. (I love using maple almond butter here because it gives this snack such an amazing pop of flavor!)
In a small bowl, melt together the chocolate and coconut oil. (I just pop mine in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds.)
Roll each stuff date in melted chocolate until it is fully covered.
Sprinkle with Maldon salt (or any fancy flaked salt).
Freeze for 25 minutes, or until chocolate is firm.