A devils on horseback recipe is one of those appetizers that’s incredibly easy and once served, gone without minutes. Most of the time a devil on horseback recipe involves dates but we think you will love the swap of figs.
Devil in a Horseback Recipe: Retro Appetizer with a Twist
This retro appetizer gives an intense performance at cocktail hour: smoky, crispy bacon wrapped around sweet figs, filled with tangy blue cheese and spiked with black pepper.
Sun-Maid and Orchard Choice California Dried Figs are our swap for dates. Try Golden Figs with their tawny, amber color and nutty, tangy sweetness instead. Or, Mission Figs bring a deeper earthy sweetness.
Devils in a Horseback Recipe Pro-Tips
To avoid a sticky mess when portioning blue cheese, we froze it to make it easier to crumble and then split the figs open with a paring knife and stuffed the crumbles inside.
The figs’ natural stickiness sealed them back up nicely. We wrapped just half a slice of bacon around each fig to avoid a lot of overlap (and residual gumminess).
Then, we placed the devils seam side down on a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet to cook. The bacon slices sealed around the figs, eliminating the extra step of skewering them shut. With the rack in play, the figs shed grease and crisped all around.
Start Here for Other Appetizer Ideas
- Figs in a Blanket
- Fig Goat Cheese with Hazelnut-Nigella Dukkah
- Seeded Fig and Pumpkin Crackers
- Sweet Potato Toast topped with Figs and Blue Cheese
Fig Devils on Horseback Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 ounces blue cheese
- 32 Orchard Choice or Sun-Maid California Dried Figs , stemmed
- 16 slices bacon
- 2 teaspoons black peppercorns , coarsely ground
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Set wire rack in aluminum foil–lined rimmed baking sheet. Add ½ cup water to tray. Freeze blue cheese until firm, about 20minutes.
- Cut through 1 long side of each fig and open like book. Crumble blue cheese and divide evenly among figs. Close figs around blue cheese and squeeze lightly to seal (figs should be full but not overflowing).
- Lay bacon slices on cutting board and halve each slice crosswise. Working with 1 fig at a time, place blue cheese–filled fig on end of 1 halved bacon slice and roll to enclose fig. Place wrapped figs seam side down on prepared rack. Sprinkle each bundle evenly with pepper.
- Bake until bacon is browned, 27 to 30 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Let cool for 10 minutes. Serve with toothpicks.
Notes
Recipe and photo by
