- 2 pounds white beans (northern or navy beans)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons dry mustard
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 onion, peeled and chopped
- 4 to 6 oz of raw bacon, chopped
Soak the beans overnight in plenty of tap water. Or, you can bring them to a boil on the stove and then turn them off, cover them and let them sit for an hour or two. The point of this is to reconstitute them some, making them easier to cook.
After the initial preparation boil your beans on the back of the stove for about half an hour. They won’t be perfectly soft, but they will be almost soft. Drain off the cooking water. In a very large casserole (4-quart) combine the semi-cooked beans, salt, dry mustard, molasses, sugar and chopped bacon. Add enough hot water to barely come to the top of the beans. Put a lid on the casserole, or tin foil. Bake the beans at 300° for about 5 to 7 hours. They will be tender, fragrant and delicious. My kids love this stuff. The cooked beans may be frozen in two cup portions to substitute for canned baked beans or canned pork’n'beans in any recipe. They make a good main dish, or a side dish for a large crowd. This recipe serves about 16. I make such a large amount so I can have plenty of leftovers to freeze.
Another way to cook this, good in the summertime, is to use a crock pot. Boil the soaked beans for half an hour, as directed above. Then, instead of combining everything in a casserole, combine them in the crock pot instead. Put the lid on the Crock Pot after you’ve mixed everything up in it, and cook it on High for about 3 or 4 hours, or on low for 6 or 8 hours. You can put a folded dish towel on top of the lid if your crock pot doesn’t get quite hot enough to cook beans normally. The dish towel helps maintain a temperature hot enough to just barely simmer the beans. Serve with Corn Casserole, Mixed Greens and Oatmeal Muffins or Whole Wheat Bread.
Ready to try yet another frugal bean recipe? Try these bean cheese and rice squares.
My family loves baked beans but the cans of them have become rather costly so I don’t buy them often. This recipe sounds great and would most likely make enough for 2 meal sides for us, can’t wait to try this.
I tried this in my crock pot… being dense, I followed the directions and put it all into the crock pot. I’ve been using it for years, and seriously didn’t think about it, but there needs to be liquid in the pot!
) I cooked my beans for 14 hours and they NEVER softened LOL After about 8 hours, my husband said, “Honey, do we need to add more liquid?” After a huge laughfest, I added about 2 cups of liquid (I doubled the recipe) and left it to cook. Still firm, but not crunchy, edible, but I won’t share them with anyone 
)
Next time, I’ll remember to add the liquid
) And THANK YOU for a very yummy recipe! (oh. I didn’t have molasses, so I used a 1/2 cup of maple syrup… YUM!)
I have made these twice already..We love them!So delicious!
My question is…Do you know how long I would process quart jars in a pressure canner?
I would love to be able to grab a jar off the shelf!
Can these be canned? If so how long would you process them for and at how many lbs? I have a small family, so was thinking it would be nice to make up a double recipe, can it in pints and have them on hand with the other veggies.
I too tried this recipe for a family of 6 it turned out really good except I added bbq sauce and some maple syrup to it. I am in the midst of canning and would like to know if this recipe could be canned in the pressure canner. Any info would be super helpful. Thanks.