Why It Works
- A brief soak in water plumps the dates for easier stuffing and prevents them from drying out.
- Par-cooking center-cut bacon ensures it crisps evenly in the final bake.
Devils on Horseback may sound like a Victorian parlor game gone off the rails, but it’s actually an old-fashioned appetizer that’s very much on the rails. The name likely comes from 19th-century Britain, where hot, bacon-wrapped prune bites were said to resemble little “devils” riding on “horseback”—a playful companion to the Angels on Horseback, which used oysters instead of dried fruit. The dish evolved over the years, and by 1970s, this version—dates stuffed with blue cheese and wrapped in bacon—had risen to prominence in the American entertaining scene. And honestly, once you taste the combination of sticky, caramelly fruit, pleasantly pungent cheese, and crisp bacon, it’s hard to imagine it any other way.
These cute little two-bite parcels deliver disproportionate joy—the exact kind of appetizer you want during the holidays. The recipe below, developed by our colleague Renu Dhar in our Birmingham, Alabama, test kitchen, is sweet, salty, savory, a little funky, and shockingly easy for something that seems so decadent. Devils on horseback require only three main ingredients, so success hinges on a few key techniques to ensure the dates stay moist and plump, the cheese melts evenly, the bacon turns crisp, and the fruit doesn’t scorch.
The key is having control over each component. Dates vary widely in texture depending on variety and freshness. Medjools, which are the most common in most US markets and typically two inches long, are ideal here. They are soft enough to stuff, sturdy enough to hold their shape, and rich and sweet enough to balance the sharp blue cheese. A brief soak in warm water softens their skins and makes them easier to slit open and fill without tearing.
Meanwhile, the bacon needs a head start. In testing, Renu found that starting with raw bacon left the dates shriveled and overcooked by the time the bacon fat fully rendered. Center-cut bacon parcooked for 8 to 10 minutes before wrapping the dates proved perfect. Parcooking the bacon allows it to shrink slightly and start firming up, so it crisps at the same rate the cheese melts once it’s wrapped around the stuffed dates and baked. The trick with the bacon is not to go too far during this first bake. The strips should still bend easily at this stage so that you can wrap them snugly with only a slight overlap. A wooden pick keeps everything secure.
These can be fully assembled—stuffed, wrapped in parcooked bacon, toothpicked—and refrigerated for up to three days before the final bake. Come party time, all that’s left is a short time in a hot oven, where the bacon crisps, the cheese melts, and the dates warm into fudgy, caramel-soft perfection. Playful but deeply flavorful, Devils on Horseback are the holiday appetizer that are sure to disappear first at the party.
This recipe was developed by Renu Dhar; The headnote was written by Leah Colins.
