Better than Heinz Slow Cooker Baked Beans

When the kids were growing up, this was one of my go-to recipes.
Many years ago, I bought a used Julia Child cookbook- Julia Child and More Company, and knew that this was one of the best I’d seen for baked beans. She had it in the Q & A in the back of the book. I adjusted it slightly and you should have nearly everything in your pantry to hand. It made life so much easier when you knew after packing the kids off to school and scurrying off to work that you’d come home to a hot meal that was fast, easy and delectable.

Far and away the best part of this is that you just plunk everything into the crock, and often I’d do so just before going to bed, put it on low and forget about it till dinnertime. Awesome, no?

It needs a long time to cook to get the deep reddish brown that is to be desired in your beans and since it’s no big to put it up at night, you will get your meal properly cooked.

Depending on my (and the kids) mood, I’d throw in some hot dogs (whole, so they wouldn’t fight over who got the most pieces) or some chicken thighs but I’ve also added leftover brisket, kielbasa or pastrami (nice smokey flavor) or corned beef or ribs. In the original recipe, she puts in salt pork (shhhh) so pastrami would be the closest you’d get for kosher. Alternatively, you could keep this meatless and it’s equally good, just add a few drops of liquid smoke to approximate the smokey, meaty flavor.

I like to serve it in deep bowls and with a spoon so that you don’t miss a drop. Yummy, easy prep and if you time it by the night before, ready when you are. What could be bad? Way to go Julia!

Better than Heinz Baked Beans

2 cups small white beans, checked and cleaned but uncooked, no need to pre-soak them
4 1/5 cups water, approximately – everyone’s slow cooker cooks at a different temp (much like ovens) so if it cooks hotter than some others, you make need to add some liquid. Just peek at it in the morning after cooking all night and you should eyeball the liquid.
1 1/2 teaspoons salt any of these or a combination thereof: hot dogs, chicken thighs (with skin and bone), pastrami or corned beef or beef ribs (flanken)
1 small chopped onion
2 teaspoons crushed garlic
2 tablespoons mild dark unsulphured molasses (NOT blackstrap which has a powerful almost licoricey taste) – this mild kind adds much flavor and you should definitely try to use it but in a pinch, you can add silan (date syrup) instead or add 2 more tablespoons of brown sugar which has molasses in it but you are also upping the sweetness
2 TB Dijon-style or deli style prepared mustard
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 bay leaves (optional)
a small pinch of black pepper

Directions:

Take out a slow cooker large enough to hold all the ingredients and put in everything together. (I like to use a crockpot/slow cooker bag to keep it clean, so I first put in hot water into the crockpot/slow cooker and float the bag with all the ingredients in it and tie a knot). Mix well, turn on low and leave to cook for about 12-14 hours. It can definitely go for longer, just make sure the liquid doesn’t boil out.

If you want it for your dinner, put it up the evening before (takes about 5 minutes), cover and and peek at it a little before dinnertime. This way, if you see it is a bit liquidy, just turn the slow cooker to high for 20 minutes or so to reduce the liquid.

I recently made a meatless version of this and it was yummy and filling but I confess I missed the meatier flavor of adding chicken, hot dogs/kielbasa or some beef. It definitely does add a lot to the flavor. Just sayin’.