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Our Best Baked Beans

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Actually, I can't take full credit for this recipe; it's mostly my husband's creation

 

 

(hence, the "Our").  It has changed over the last twenty or thirty years to what it

 

 

is now*.  BTW, this recipe can be done entirely in a skillet.

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​About the Ingredients:

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•  Bacon-Use a good quality bacon.  I don't use smoked, but if you like it, use it.

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•  Onion-A sweet onion works great in this recipe if you have it.

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•  Pork and beans-You will need 2 (15-oz) cans or the equivalent.

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•  Ketchup

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•  Brown sugar-If you like your beans on the sweet side, add up to

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   half a cup of packed brown sugar.  Otherwise, just add a generous quarter

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   of a cup.

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•  Prepared mustard-No fancy stuff here; just the normal stuff.

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KEYWORDS​​

baked beans, molasses, brown sugar, pork and beans, 

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​Our Best Baked Beans​​​​

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Ingredients

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•  5 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled  leaving about 2 tsp

 

 

   drippings in skillet

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•  1 small onion, diced

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•  ½ cup ketchup

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•  2 (15-oz) cans of pork and beans (only drain 1 can)

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•  ¼ to ½ cup packed brown sugar

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•  1 Tbsp prepared mustard

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Grease an  8-x-8 baking dish. 

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Instructions

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1.  Cook bacon on low-medium heat until golden brown; drain

 

 

    but leave 2 tsp drippings in the pan.  Crumble bacon and set

 

 

    aside.

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2.  Sauté the onions on low-medium heat until almost tender. 

 

 

     Add the bacon and the rest of the ingredients to the  pan**,

 

 

     stir gently and pour into the prepared 8-x-8 baking dish.

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3. Bake at 350°F for up to 30 minutes until bubbly and brown

 

 

    around the edges.

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*When we first made this recipe, we didn't drain the pork and

 

 

  beans; we just let the mixture cook on low heat in a skillet

 

 

  until it was the consistency that we liked, but the beans were

 

 

  a little too soft (mushy).  This recipe worked much better.  We

 

 

  also like the "crust"  (caramelized sugar) that forms along

 

 

  the edges.

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**At this point you can also leave it in the skillet and let it cook

 

 

    slowly, gently stirring,  until thickened to your taste.

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Options

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•  For a more rustic flavor, add ¼ cup molasses.​

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•  Add a small pinch of cayenne pepper.

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•  This recipe is easily doubled; just use an 11-x-7 baking dish or something

 

 

    similar.

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The bacon gives the baked beans a lot of flavor.  I prefer natural

 

 

uncured bacon because I like the way it bakes.  Our simple method for

 

 

baking bacon has minimal clean up.   I  bake it until it's almost crispy

 

 

but still pliable.  For this recipe I cut it crosswise into ½-inch strips.  I like to

 

 

see  the pieces of bacon.

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Instead of using pork and beans, you can use canned beans (two 15-oz

 

 

cans for the basic recipe) such as navy, great northern or cannellini.  I've

 

 

also mixed them for more interest (or if I don't have enough of one kind).

 

 

You will need to drain one can and add an additional one-fourth cup

 

 

ketchup and one-fourth cup packed brown sugar in addition to the

 

 

ingredients listed in the recipe.

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