Bourbon Baked Beans

Here is a throwback recipe I created as a challenge after a ‘Best of the Worst’ Bourbon tasting party I coordinated last year. With several slightly unpalatable bourbons left over, I accepted the challenge of creating recipes to use the leftovers in new recipes as an incentive for attendees to take the leftovers home with them! Here is the first recipe I created – a simple and flavorful bourbon baked beans.

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Bourbon Baked Beans

Ingredients

½ cup brown sugar
½ cup bourbon
½ onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
¼ tsp cloves
6 slices bacon, cut in strips
1 15 oz can of pinto, great northern, or kidney beans (or equivalent amount of dry beans, soaked and partially cooked to ⅔ doneness)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
In a small sauce pan, heat brown sugar, bourbon, and cloves over medium low heat.
Be careful cooking with bourbon over open flame as it could ignite.
In a sauté pan, sweat the diced onion in the oil until softened.
Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds until fragrant, remove from heat and add to the bourbon/sugar mixture.
In the sauté pan, crisp the bacon and add to the bourbon/sugar mixture.
Add the beans and place into a small baking dish, baking for 20-30 minutes until bubbly and the sauce is partially caramelized.