Amazing Cheddar Dates

I promised a friend I’d post this amazing recipe for Cheddar Dates. It’s from Southern Living’s Easy Entertaining book. I make them around the holidays, or any other time I’m in the mood for this rich appetizer. It’s quite a process but totally worth it!

• 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 24 pitted dates
• 24 pecan halves, toasted
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl, stirring well.
2. Add butter, stirring until moistened. It’s a very dry dough.
3. Make a lenthwise slit in each date and stuff with a pecan half.
4. Press 1 generous tablespoon dough around each date. Just take a tablespoon and squash it flat in your hand. Then put a date on top and wrap and squish the dough around to cover the date.
5. Cover and chill for 45 minutes, or freeze for up to a month.
6. Place dates on a greased baking sheet and brush with egg white. Sprinkle with sugar.
7. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Serve at room temperature.

I sometimes break up the process into toasting, slitting, stuffing, then covering the dates and cooking. The whole thing takes quite a while, but if you break up the steps you can get a little done at a time.