best baked beans!

These are the best baked beans that I have had in a while (coming from a baked bean fan)! I have always wanted to do homemade baked beans so while Joe was smoking a boston butt on the smoker, it gave me plenty of time to have the kitchen to myself for bean making. The family enjoyed these over Thanksgiving & my father in law gave two big thumbs up!

Make this "Magic Dust" first as the Where the Cooks Are website advises. This gives the beans that "smokey" taste and the seasoning was spot on. It makes a ton so you could cut this in 1/2 if you were just thinking of trying this once and wanted to conserve spices. I made a double batch of the beans and have enough dust to do maybe 4 more double batches.

Magic Dust:

what you need...

1/4 cup paprika
2 tablespoons coarse salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon mustard powder
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

what to do...

mix it all in a container with a lid and store :)

best baked beans ever...
what you need...
1 pound dried great northern beans, rinsed and drained
8-12 slices of bacon
1 medium to large onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup molasses
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons yellow mustard
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 tablespoons Magic Dust (see above)
1 1/2 cups water

what you do...
Start the night before. Rinse the beans & pull out any ugly ones that don't meet your standards. Place them in a large saucepan or dish and add salted water (cover them 2-3 inches). Soak overnight. Note: the beans will EXPAND so make sure they aren't going to expand outside of the dish. They need to stay covered with water so give them room to grow.

When you're ready to get going, rinse the beans one last time.  Return them to the saucepan and cover with fresh water by about 4 inches. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 1-2 hours or until the beans are tender, but not bursting open. 

While the beans are cooking, whisk the ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, chili powder, Magic Dust, and water together in a large bowl.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cook all but two pieces of the bacon in the oven ensuring that its cooked fully. Let the bacon cool after being laid out on a paper towel to degrease a little.  Cook the other two pieces of bacon in a medium saucepan. Remove the bacon & keep the grease in the pan. Add the onion to the bacon grease and cook. Once the onion is almost finished softening, add the garlic. Take a minute & crumble all the cooled bacon.

Pour drained beans into the bowl with the sauce. Add the bacon, onion, and garlic and stir to combine well.  Pour into a 9"x13" baking dish and bake, uncovered, for one hour or until bubbly. 

Bean recipe & Magic Dust Recipe from: www.wherethecookiesare.com