If you came here looking for the perfect date desserts for date night, you might’ve come to the wrong place.
However, if you came here looking for tasty date desserts made from the fruits of the date palm tree, then you’re precisely where you need to be.
Either way, these 20 date desserts are super yummy, so even if you found your way here looking for date night inspiration, keep reading.
You might find what you’re looking for, after all!
Well, let’s jump right in, shall we?
1. Peanut Butter-Stuffed Dates
Medjool dates taste fantastic by themselves.
They taste less like fruit and more like a sweet treat containing honey, caramel, cinnamon, and maybe a hint of chocolate.
Now, imagine that stuffed with peanut butter and topped with anything you like. If you think it sounds delicious, you’re precisely right!
2. Date Brownies
These thick, fudgy brownies are so good, you’ll never even know they’re both chocolate- and sugar-free.
They’re also vegan- and paleo-friendly and gluten-free.
I like to add just a bit of sea salt or salted caramel into mine, otherwise, they can be a little overpowering in terms of sweetness.
3. Date-Filled Sugar Cookies
These are sweet, soft, and chewy sugar cookies, but they have a surprise inside.
Each one boasts a rich, tasty filling of dates, sugar, water, lemon juice, and salt.
The cookies are sweet, but not overly so, and more filling than cookies have any right to be.
4. Sticky Toffee Bundt Cake
Don’t be fooled by looking at the picture. That is not a chocolate bundt cake. It is a sticky toffee bundt cake made with dried dates.
This cake is pillowy soft, incredibly moist, and has a phenomenal toffee/caramel/chocolate taste that’s super scrumptious.
Honestly, it’s hard for people to believe there’s no chocolate or caramel anywhere in this cake, but it’s true!
5. Date and Nut Bars
These hearty bars are so healthy and good for you that it doesn’t even seem like you should be able to call them “dessert.”
They’re packed with fiber, protein, and antioxidants, and you’ll only use three ingredients to make them – mixed nuts, Medjool dates, and butter (or coconut oil).
These are sweet and crunchy, and they’re the perfect mid-day pick-me-up or on-the-go breakfast.
6. Raisin Date Bread Pudding
This flavorful raisin- and date-filled bread pudding is best served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream on top.
It’s buttery and… I don’t know how to describe it, really… I want to say that it’s buttery and crusty, but people think of crusty as something bad.
I, on the other hand, love crust. The more crust and the less filling pies and cobblers have, the better I like them.
This bread pudding is 95% buttery crust.
Let’s just say it’s delicious and leave it at that.
7. Raisin, Date, & Walnut Muffins
These muffins may be a little denser and more crumbly than you’re used to eating, but if you serve them hot with a pat of butter, they’re mouthwatering.
They’re also relatively easy to make.
The ingredients list is a little longer than some, but mostly, it calls for everyday pantry staples, and it takes less than 40 minutes to make a dozen.
These are great for dessert, breakfast, or a quick snack.
8. Date Squares
If you’re looking for a chewy, crumbly dessert that’ll have you feeling nostalgic for grandma’s cooking, you’ll have to try these delectable date squares.
They take less than an hour to make and feature the strong, complementary tastes of old-fashioned oats, dates, sugar, and just a hint of lemon juice.
9. Chocolate Date Truffles
Just reading the ingredients list for this recipe makes my stomach growl.
It contains Medjool dates, nuts, cocoa powder, vanilla, sea salt, cocoa, sprinkles, flaked coconut, and almond meal.
These truffles are fudgy, crunchy, sweet, and just plain wonderful. Also, they’re lovely and make fantastic gifts.
10. Chocolate Hazelnut-Stuffed Dates
These chocolatey treats are like bite-sized morsels of heaven. You’ll stuff the dates with chocolate hazelnut almond butter and a roasted hazelnut.
That alone sounds scrumptious, but then you dip the whole thing in melted chocolate to make it even better.
11. Pecan Pie Date Bars
These three-layer pecan pie date bars start with a simple crust and have a layer of sweet, chewy yumminess on top of that.
The top of the bars is a layer of crunchy pecans.
The bars are sweet and nutty, and the bourbon adds a rich, warm flavor that ensures you won’t be able to eat just one.
12. Maamoul Cookies
Maamoul cookies are famous in Middle Eastern countries.
They’re fluffy, rounded cookies with a rich buttery flavor and a sweet and spicy date filling.
The rose water also adds a pleasant floral aroma, even though it doesn’t alter the taste.
13. Date Pinwheel Cookies
Date pinwheel cookies are super cute. They have a mild, lightly sweet but nutty taste and a crunchy texture with a bit of chewiness from the dates.
Plus, like a lot of the others on this list, they’re simple to make.
They need about an hour to chill, but the actual prep and cook time is just over 30 minutes.
14. Vanilla Date Ice Cream
This no-sugar-added vanilla date ice cream takes only 30 minutes to whip up, but you’ll need to give it another 4 hours to freeze before serving it.
You need only five ingredients (unless you want to add pistachios), and it’s a sweet, mild, refreshing treat.
15. Salted Caramel Tahini Cups
These may look like whitish-brown Reese’s Cups, but the taste isn’t quite the same.
While Reese’s are full of chocolate and peanut butter, these cups feature dates, tahini, coconut oil, and sea salt.
There’s a slightly nutty taste to them, but they’re primarily caramel-flavored.
The sea salt complements the caramel/nutty flavor perfectly, taking these from ‘really good’ to ‘highly addictive.’
16. Date Newton Bites
These miniature treats are the homemade date version of Fig Newtons.
The outside layer is similar to Fig Newtons, but it’s a bit more buttery and not as thick.
The filling, though, is entirely different. You’ll make them from dates and vanilla, and it gives you a wonderful vanilla-toffee-like flavor that’s entirely unique.
17. Date Walnut Truffles
Truffles are always delicious, but when you can make them somewhat healthy, that makes them even more appealing.
And these are pretty healthy. All they have in them are Medjool dates, walnuts, vanilla extract, and salt — all things that are good for you (except maybe the salt).
They’re vegan-friendly, low-calorie, and take only 10 minutes to make. It’s hard to beat that!
18. Snickers Stuffed Dates
There isn’t a single ingredient in Snickers-stuffed dates that isn’t yummy.
Noor dates, peanut butter, sea salt, and a chocolate drizzle made from coconut oil, cocoa powder, and maple syrup: What’s not to love?
They don’t taste precisely like Snickers, but they are full of chocolate and peanut butter deliciousness.
Also, like many of these date desserts, they’re paleo, vegan-friendly, and gluten-free.
19. Buckeye Balls
If you think these buckeye balls look incredible, just wait until you taste them!
Made with only four ingredients – Medjool dates, peanut butter, water, and chocolate chips – they’re insanely easy to make.
You can make 30 in just 30 minutes.
They’re also pretty healthy, gluten-free, and you can make them vegan by using vegan chocolate chips.
20. Magic Cookies Bars with Dates
This chewy, layered snack combines several complementary flavors – graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, vanilla, coconut, chocolate, dates, walnuts, and more – into one scrumptious square.
It’s chewy, dense, and surprisingly hearty for a dessert bar! Also, it’s just really, tasty.
Ok, those date brownies look phenomenal! So fudgy. I need to make those.