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I honestly do not remember the first time I ate dates. However, I am certain that they weren’t a part of my childhood. A snack of dried fruit? No, thank you, surely was my answer.

But as happens, one grows up and expands their palate. At least, I hope that happens for everyone. It did for me, and as such, I recognized the abundant sweetness and multi-dimensional uses for dried fruits, including dates. If you search the Think Tasty archives, you will find an assortment of options.

Recently, I began thinking about ways to utilize dates in a new appetizer. I considered two important factors for the recipe. First, how do I balance the sweetness with saltiness in the recipe? Second, what ingredient can provide a textural balance to the tenderness of the dates?

With these thoughts in mind, I spun my mental, culinary Rolodex. (If you don’t know that term, click the link.) I have made wrapped and stuffed dates, so I headed in a different direction. Yes, there would still be cheese, but these dates would be served open face. I added nuts for crunch and began recipe testing.

Recipe testing time!

For the first round of testing I combined goat cheese, cream cheese, and walnuts for the filling. To add another element of A/B testing, I baked half of the stuffed dates and served the other half cold. In my opinion, the warm dates were the winner. Not only did it soften the cheese slightly, it also made the dates slightly more tender. However, my husband preferred the cold dates.

During the second round of testing, all of the dates were baked. (Guess whose opinion was deemed more valuable?) I did make one addition: rosemary. While the initial batch was tasty, I felt that the final product needed just a bit more flavor. There were four taste testers for this round, all of whom agreed that the rosemary was a fine addition.

As you prepare to make these dates, feel free to do your own A/B testing on the warm versus cold debate. Leave a comment, and let me know which you prefer.