Roseyland

Today I’m going to share with you one of my favorite recipes. My Grandma’s baked beans. These are the greatest baked beans ever. They are a little bit sweet and pasty. I know pasty doesn’t sound like a good word for describing food, but I can’t think of a better one. These baked beans are cooked long and slow, and it causes the beans to break down. You can still see the individual beans, but you don’t feel the individual beans in your mouth, it all mushes together. Plus, they develop this caramelization on top that is delicious. Kind of like the blackened cheese on top of macaroni and cheese, but different. Here are the ingredients:

• 4 pounds canned baked beans, drained
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light molasses
• 2 tablespoons dried minced onion
• 2 tablespoons dry mustard
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 jar bacon bits

This is what the ingredients look like on my counter.

This next step is complicated, make sure you pay attention. Combine all the ingredients like so:

Mix together well, and put into a greased casserole dish. I prefer a large shallow dish, because it maximizes the top layer of caramelization.

Now bake in an oven at 300 degrees for 2-3 hours. I lean towards the 3 hour side, again because I like a nice gooey caramelized top layer. This is what it looks like when it’s done.

Notice the dark crustiness on top. That’s the good stuff. Here is what it looks like served on a plate.

My mouth waters just looking at these baked beans. They are great on their own, or as a cold baked bean sandwich the next day. I know the idea of cold baked beans sounds gross, but it’s actually really good. I was kind of disappointed in this recipe once I knew what it was. I wish it wasn’t made from so many pre-processed ingredients. I’d like to try it without using canned beans and with cooked fresh onions and real bacon. That would be a lot more work though, and it probably wouldn’t taste as good. I think I’ll leave a good thing alone. Here is a pdf of the recipe.