Seasonal Cooking: Apple Baked Beans

(Hey! Don’t forget to check out my tiny green giveaway over here.)

We love these beans. They are just a pot of apple-y goodness, adapted from my mama’s recipe.

Isn’t it great that apples are in season in the winter? It’s like a little gift to get us through when it seems that spring will never come.

I make these beans a lot. Especially since Adrienne won’t eat pork. (She has had a serious aversion to it since she was a little girl. I’m not sure why.) They give her some protein, and are beautiful with pork for the rest of us. The best of both worlds!

It might seem like there is a lot of oil in these beans. That’s because there isn’t any other fat, like bacon. Without olive oil, we think they’re too dry. Feel free, of course, to experiment to your hearts content.

Apple Baked Beans

• 2 cups small white or great northern beans, cooked and drained (or 2 cans of beans, drained but not rinsed.)
• 1/2 onion, chopped fine
• 1 apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
• olive oil
• apple juice
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• salt, pepper, and dry mustard to taste
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil

Since these babies bake for so long, I don’t bother with preheating the oven. Save a little energy.

Prepare a casserole or bean pot by oiling it lightly.

Mix the apple and onion in a small bowl. Layer 1/2 the beans in the casserole, then half the apple/onion mix, then drizzle with two or three tablespoons of olive oil. Repeat.

I’ll say here that I use canned beans. I really want to learn to make beans from scratch. I’ve never had success. But I keep trying!

In a saucepan, mix the ketchup, syrup, and spices (I use about a teaspoon of each, but just use your judgment.) Bring to a boil, then pour over the beans.

Don’t worry about covering the whole thing, or mixing. Everything gets blended perfectly during baking.

Carefully pour in apple juice until the beans are just covered.

Just go slow, so you don’t over fill. You don’t want watery beans.

Put in the oven, covered either with a lid or some foil, and bake for 3 to 4 hours. After two hours, I give it a stir, but really it isn’t necessary. Everything somehow gets magically mixed up on it’s own.

You could dump everything in the slow cooker on low for 6 to 8 hours, too. It’s delicious either way.

As an extra added bonus, they make your house smell wonderful.

More recipes here. And here. And here. And here. And here.

And here. And here. And here. And here.