



True confession, baked beans are a finger food at our house. No, we don’t actually eat them we our fingers; but my family thinks of them more as a dip to eat with chips . . . any kind of chip will do, but the favorite here is BBQ chips with ridges, of course, because they are stronger and hold more beans. So if you come to my house, you don’t really need a fork for baked beans . . .

Can you celebrate the 4th of July without baked beans? I’m sure you could, but for most of us baked beans is a tradition. Problem for us is, that our family has never had a written recipe for baked beans. It’s just one of those recipes where you just add a little of this, some of that, and a little more brown sugar. So finally I decided we needed to write it down {although I can tell you I will still never measure . . . }.

I know a lot of you love bacon in your baked beans, but I don’t add it. I don’t like the texture of the bacon in the beans . . . but you can still get that same great flavor by adding liquid smoke – an amazing ingredient that gives food that same smokey flavor without all the calories! You can find liquid smoke near the worcestershire sauce and other condiments in your grocery store.

My second true confession is that if I am making beans for company or to take to an outing I will follow the recipe below. But then you remember I live in Texas and hate to turn my oven on for 2 hours in the summer! So if I’m making them to eat at home I’ll make a smaller batch that fits in the microwave and can have them ready in 20-30 minutes without heating up my house. Just drain off the liquid in the beans first since they don’t have as long to reduce and let them sit 10 minutes before serving . . . same great taste without the 2 hour wait!

Baked Beans

3 large cans (28 ounces) pork and beans (I use Van Camps)

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup green pepper, chopped

1/2 cup barbecue sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons mustard

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke

Combine all and pour into a 13×9 pan (sprayed with cooking spray). Bake at 325 for 2 hours. Let stand 10-15 minutes to reduce a little more before serving. Now grab a bag of chips and dig in!





