Slow Cooked Maple Bacon Beans

Slow Cooked Maple Bacon Beans

·        These beans do not contain refined sugars, I have substituted the refined sugars with 100 % pure maple syrup and coconut palm sugar (palm sugar has a similar texture and look as brown sugar and is low glycemic), there is no gluten, preservatives or dairy in this dish. These beans make a great main dish with a gluten free bread, roll or muffin etc...or as a side dish. Also please note I use nitrate free bacon that is cured with honey as apposed to refined sugars (I buy it at New Seasons Market).

     Cook time: 8 hours

·         Yield: Serves 5-6 as a main dish or 10-12 as a side.

INGREDIENTS

·         1 pound (2 to 2 1/4 cups) dry white beans such as Navy beans or Great Northern beans (can also use kidney beans)

·         1/3 cup pure maple syrup

·         1/3 cup coconut palm sugar

·         3-4 Tbsp Dijon mustard

·         1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

·         3 cups hot water

·         1/2 pound bacon cut into 1/2-inch to 1-inch pieces

·         1 medium onion, (1 1/2 cups) chopped

METHOD

1 Place beans in a large pot and cover with 2 inches of water. Soak overnight and drain. Alternatively, bring a pot with the beans covered with 2 inches of water to a boil, remove from heat and let soak for an hour, then drain.

2 Mix the pure maple syrup, coconut palm sugar, mustard, and ground cloves with 3 cups of hot water.

3 Line the bottom of a crock pot (or a Dutch oven if you are cooking in the oven) with half of the bacon (pick the fattiest pieces). Layer over with half of the drained beans. Add all of the onions in a layer, next top with another layer of beans and the remaining bacon. Pour the maple water mixture over the beans to just cover the beans.

4 Cover and cook in a crock pot on the low setting for 8 hours (or in a 250°F oven), until the beans are tender. Check the water level a few hours in, and if the beans need more water, add some. Add additional salt to taste if needed. Note that fresher beans will cook faster than older beans. Your beans may be ready in less than 8 hours, or they may take longer. The beans are even better the next day and can also be frozen in individual serving sizes too.