martha's bacon-wrapped dates

this weekend i had the pleasure of joining a play date with some of oldie but goodie besties and their little ones. we enjoyed some "mom"osas while the 10 littles ran around getting their play on. i consulted martha and opted to bring these beauties to share with grown-up gang. these bacon-wrapped dates are a crowd-pleasing appetizer to bring to a gathering at any time of the day. the gals and I dined on them during our brunch smorgasbord while the littles opted for more appropriate nosh like donut holes and finger fruits. the best thing about these apps, other than their delish flavor, is that they are so flippin' easy and take very little time to make. their pay off is huge. the only downside was that i had to travel to two grocery stores to procure the fresh dates. whole foods had them of course, along with the majority of my paycheck.  make these appetizers for your next gathering...you can't go wrong.

>> bacon-wrapped dates <<

ingredients

• 24-30 fresh dates
• 1 lb. thinly sliced bacon, cut in half  (i used apple-smoked)
• 2 ounces shelled pistachios (i used unsalted)
• 2 ounces dried apricots, cut into strips
• cooking spray
• 
  

instructions

preheat oven to 450 degrees. wrap a rimmed cookie sheet with foil and lightly spray with cooking spray. cut a slit in each date and remove the pit. Stuff each date with 3 or 4 pistachios** and add a slice of dried apricot on top of the pistachios. wrap stuffed date with half a slice of bacon.

transfer wrapped dates to cookie sheet and bake until bacon is crisp, about 12 minutes. flip each date after about 8 minutes. transfer wrapped dates to paper towels to drain. Serve with toothpicks.

**next time i make these i will be shoving as many pistachios as possible in each date to add a little more crunch

  

thanks martha...you can find her recipe here marthastewart.com