BBQ Baked Beans

Happy Soul Food Sunday! I hope whatever you ate today was good for your soul (most food is, right?). Our day started with an awesome breakfast my mom made.

(Don’t worry, I had a lot of fruit before breakfast in anticipation!)

And for dinner we barbecued this guy:

Almost every time we do traditional barbecue, we have baked beans on the side. I happen to be famous for my baked beans, and you are lucky enough to get the recipe! 🙂 Really this is one of those things you can make to taste and adjust the flavors the way you like them. I don’t actually use a print recipe, I’ve been making these beans since I was probably 11 or 12 years old. If the only way you’ve ever had baked beans is straight out of the can…you are MISSING OUT on something. You must try these.

Barbecue Baked Beans

The Beans:

• 2 large cans of baked beans (doesn’t matter what kind, just no crazy flavor)

The Sauce (you can add or remove from these according to your taste):

• 1/3 c. brown sugar (you can add more to make it sweeter)
• 1/2 c. ketchup
• 2 t. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 t. liquid smoke
• 1/4 c. molasses
• 1 T. apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 c. of your favorite prepared barbecue sauce
• 1 c. sauteed peppers and onions sauteed in 2 T. vegetable oil (or…errr…bacon fat…yes, I said it! it’s delicious!) , I use the frozen variety:

(I LOVE these, Publix has one with the complete Holy Trinity (onions, bell peppers, celery) and you absolutely cannot get this up North…trust me, I know)

-DRAIN THE BEANS WELL. This is the most important step! You want as little of that syrupy stuff in the beans as possible, so empty the cans out into a colander and let them drain well.

-In a medium sized bowl, combine the beans with the rest of the sauce ingredients.

-Mix gently with a rubber spatula until the ingredients are completely combined.

-Pour beans into a lightly greased casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, or until the beans are nice and brown on top and bubbling in the center.

Delish! It perfectly compliments any kind of barbecue.

I am in the process of making my first ever laminate dough! My mom has been teaching me how to make Danishes! But we won’t be finishing them up until late tonight, which means probably no pictures, so I may just have to make them again some other day and do a post then. I’m so nervous about them turning out, but my mom is guiding the way so I should be fine.

Thanks for reading! Enjoy the last tiny bit of the weekend!

-Lauren