Cream Cheese and Pepperoni Devils On Horseback

Soaked in beer, stuffed with sriracha-spiked cream cheese, and wrapped in pepperoni, this take on the classic hors d'oeuvre Devils on Horseback is my pride and joy. Still waiting on that call from the Nobel Committee...Note: Obviously if you don't have a toaster oven you can use a regular oven. But honestly, you should think about picking up a decent toaster oven sometime soon.This recipe first appeared in Season 1 of Good Eats: The Return.

📝 Ingredients

• 20 pitted Deglet Noor dates
• 1 cup lager-style beer
• 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 4 gherkin pickles, diced fine
• 1 teaspoon sriracha
• 10 sandwich-style pepperoni slices, halved

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1In a small bowl, submerge the dates in the lager and soak for 2 hours.
2. 2Heat a toaster oven to 450°F and place a rack in a quarter sheet pan or use the pan that came with your toaster oven if applicable (see note).
3. 3Thoroughly mix the cream cheese, gherkins and sriracha together, then transfer to a zip-top bag and snip off one corner of the bag, leaving about a 1/2-inch opening.
4. 4Drain and then open the dates by using a pair of scissors to cut a lengthwise slit in each date. Pipe roughly 1/2 teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture into each date and wrap with half a pepperoni slice. Place the wrapped dates on the rack, pepperoni ends down, and gently press to anchor.
5. 5Bake until the pepperoni is brown and crispy, about 10 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before devouring.