Cousin Ellen's Baked Beans

Total Time: 3 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 4 (16 ounce) cans great northern beans, ie. bush's, do not drain
• 1/2 cup water, rinse bean cans and reserve some water to equal 1/2 c
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1/3 cup dark corn syrup, ie. karo
• 1 -1 1/4 cup ketchup, ie. heinz
• 1/2-3/4 lb bacon, cooked and divided
• 3/4 cup onion, chopped

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350°f.
• 2 spray 9x12 baking dish w/ nonstick spray.
• 3 slice the uncooked bacon into 1 to 2" pieces.
• 4 fry lightly over medium heat , stirring occasionally, until it begins to crisp up around the edges.
• 5 scoop out the bacon and set aside in a bowl. do not drain.
• 6 save the bacon grease that is in the skillet. (optional, see step below).
• 7 throw the onions into the skillet with the bacon grease and cook long enough to wilt them a bit. stirring them around in the hot grease a couple of minutes or so.
• 8 note: you have 2 options here: 1) remove the cooked onions and reserve them for the recipe or 2) add both the onions & bacon grease to the recipe. i found no difference, one way or the other, so i toss it.
• 9 combine the first 5 ingredients into a large bowl: beans, water, dark brown sugar, corn syrup and ketchup. stir.
• 10 add the onions and the grease from the bacon pan. stir gently until mixed with bean mixture. add 1/2 of bacon to the beans, stir to combine.
• 11 pour mixture into a 9x 12 prepared baking dish or any oven safe serving dish.
• 12 top with the remaining bacon pieces.
• 13 bake uncovered for approximately 3 hours at 350°f . watch so that it doesn't dry out. it will be thick and look very dark and almost caramelized when it is done.
• 14 note: you can stretch the recipe by adding an additional can or 2 of beans without compromising the end result. no need to add any other ingredients.
• 15 i do not recommend making this in the crock pot.