My Famous Baked Beans

In my family I'm famous for my baked beans. For years I made these for almost any occasion, whether it was a barbeque, church supper, or family reunion. I love the way these thicken up and get crusty around the edges.

Ingredients:

• 2 1lb 12 oz can of baked beans or pork and beans
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 1/2 c molasses or syrup
• 1 c ketchup or chili sauce
• 1 c chopped onions
• 1/4 c Worcestershire sauce
• 2 t dry mustard
• 2 T liquid smoke
• 5 strips of bacon, chopped in small pieces

Mix all ingredients together. Bake in covered casserole for 1 hour at 300 degrees F. I like to take the lid off for the last 10-15 minutes or so to thicken the sauce and brown top.

Notes:

I like Bush's Baked Beans for this

The best syrup for this is not pancake syrup, but a good thick, golden cane syrup. In the south I like Johnny Fair or Blackburn Made syrup the best.

Most of the time I leave off the bacon, but if I use it, I like to put the bacon on top instead of mixed in.

I leave off the liquid smoke most of the time, just because it's not something I keep on hand.

And as always, I use dried onion flakes instead of fresh onion.

All cans of beans are not created the same. On occasion, I've opened beans that seemed to have more juice than usual--in those cases, I cut back on the syrup and increase the brown sugar to balance the extra liquid.

I've made this in a large roasting pan for a big church dinner--use double the ingredients listed here for each gallon of beans, and allow at least two hours to bake; more if you mix it up the night before and refrigerate. (It does seem to taste better if I mix it all up and refrigerate overnight, but it takes a lot longer to bake if it's been refrigerated instead of just mixed at room temperature.)

In the summertime when I make this for just my family, I cut the recipe in half, microwave for awhile, then finish off uncovered in the oven just for the thickening and browning--saves heating the kitchen up for so long--not a problem this time of the year!

Try this out, I think you'll like it!

Update: I linked this post to a Recipe Swap hosted by Gayle at the Grocery Cart Challenge. Check it out to find links to some recipe posts on other blogs.

Good cooking, and good eating!