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Whipped goat cheese with candied bacon and dates is one of the best appetizers I’ve ever eaten. It’s a creamy base of whipped goat cheese, cream cheese, slightly sweetened with honey. You also caramelize bacon and dates in a hot oven and put that on the cheese and top it all with a sweet and spicy honey. It’s a symphony of flavors and textures. You have sour whipped cheese, sweet honey, savory herbs, heat from the cayenne and those sticky pieces of salty candied bacon and dates.
If you’re looking to impress guests, this is definitely the appetizer to do it with. You can serve it with toasted baguette (highly recommend), crackers, slices of firm granny smith apples or pears. I got this recipe from Half Baked Harvest but felt it needed some tweaking to meet its full potential. I doubled the toppings, well, everything other than the dates. I also took the liberty to add honey to the cheese as it needed a little sweet to curb the sour. It was a perfect addition. You can make this any time of year, but it especially tastes great over the holidays.
While you’re here check out more appetizers here!
Tips for the Best Whipped Goad Cheese with Candied Bacon and Dates
- Line your toppings sheet pan with parchment paper or everything will stick and the honey will burn.
- You can use a handheld mixer, stand mixer or a food processor to whip the cheeses.
- Don’t make the dates too small or they’ll get rock hard in the oven. Just cut in half and no smaller.
- Cook the toppings until the bacon is crispy. If that takes longer than the recommended cook time, so be it.
Whipped Goat Cheese with Candied Bacon and Dates
Ingredients
Toppings
- 12 slices bacon chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh rosemary
- 12 pitted dates halved
- 1 tsp cayenne
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 2 good drizzles of honey
Honey
- 1/3 C honey
- 1 tbsp fresh Rosemary chopped
- dash cayenne and salt
Whipped Cheese
- 10 oz soft goat cheese
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 2 tbsp light olive oil
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Add the chopped bacon, rosemary and dates to a parchment lined sheet pan and toss with the honey, brown sugar and cayenne pepper listed under "toppings" ingredients.
- Bake in the oven until the bacon is crisp, about 12 minutes.
- While the toppings bake, beat together soft goat cheese, cream cheese, honey, olive oil and salt. Spread evenly in an 8x8 or 9x9 dish. Set aside.
- To another bowl mix 1/3 C honey, 1 tbsp chopped rosemary a dash of cayenne and a dash of salt.
- Drizzle half the honey mixture over the whipped cheese mixture then top with all the candied bacon and dates.
- Drizzle the second half of the honey mixture over the candied bacon dates. Serve with warm baguette and crackers.