Put about 2 inches of water into your saucepan and bring to simmer.
Add your cacao butter or coconut oil and dark chocolate to your glass or ceramic bowl and place on top of the simmering pan. It's best not to have the water touching our bowl of ingredients if possible as it can burn the chocolate.
Stir with a wooden spoon until your chocolate and cacao butter have dissolved.
Take off the heat, then add your maple syrup (or sweetener of choice), cacao powder and salt.
Stir, then transfer to a cool bowl and refrigerate.
Meanwhile, prepare your dates by slicing halfway over one side to remove the pip and leave a pocket for your filling. Be sure to check for the hard bit that is usually at the end of the pip. You won't want to eat that. Place your dates on a large plate.
Prepare another dinner plate by covering it with foil or parchment paper and set aside.
Get your nut butter out of the fridge (it's better cold because then it won't ooze out of your date).
Stuff about half a teaspoon of nut butter into each of your dates. You need enough to completely fill your date up.
Gently 'close' the date with your fingers by squeezing gently. You do not need to close it all the way.
Now grab your chocolate topping out of the fridge. By now it should be cool and slightly thicker. It's important to get the texture of the sauce right for coverage on your date. If it has set too much and is no longer runny, then you can rescue it by heating slightly over your bain marie again. It's better runny than too thick!
Now add about 4 of your dates to the bowl of chocolate topping sauce and spoon the sauce over you dates, drenching them in chocolate.
Gently place them on your lined plate. Don't worry if some of the sauce oozes over the sides.
Keep going until you have drenched all your dates and placed them on your plate. Use any remaining sauce to spoon again over your dates whilst they are on the plate. If it leave a puddle around the date, don't worry, this just makes it more rustic,,,,and better.
Place your whole plate in the refrigerator and leave for around 15 minutes to set.
Remove and eat (or add to an air-tight container and keep refrigerated at all times until ready to eat. These will probably melt at room temperature.
