Boston baked beans with coffee and maple syrup
Recipe photograph by Ant Duncan
Boston baked beans with coffee and maple syrup
This get-ahead recipe tastes even better a day after cooking. If you have a pressure cooker, you can skip the bean soaking process so they’re ready to cook in under an hour
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
422Kcal
Fat
17gr
Saturates
6gr
Carbs
54gr
Sugars
14gr
Fibre
2gr
Protein
15gr
Salt
4.4gr
Nadine Brown
When Nadine isn't busy developing delicious recipes and using her experience as a health food editor to create healthy treats, she's munching and reviewing her way around her beloved home town of Tottenham. Find out what she's cooking and eating on Instagram @n0sh.17
See more of Nadine Brown’s recipes
Nadine Brown
When Nadine isn't busy developing delicious recipes and using her experience as a health food editor to create healthy treats, she's munching and reviewing her way around her beloved home town of Tottenham. Find out what she's cooking and eating on Instagram @n0sh.17
See more of Nadine Brown’s recipes
Ingredients
- 400g dried pinto beans
- 1 tbsp fine salt, plus ½ tsp
- 2 onions, 1 halved and 1 finely sliced
- 1 carrot, roughly chopped
- 1 celery stick, roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, bashed
- a few sprigs thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 tsp instant espresso powder
- 85ml maple syrup
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce*
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 350g Stamford Street Co. cooking bacon, chopped
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
To serve (optional)
- soured cream
- brown soda bread
Step by step
- The night before, tip the beans into a large bowl and submerge in plenty of cold water. Stir in 1 tablespoon of salt. Cover and leave to soak for at least 10 hours (and up to 24 hours).
- Next day, drain and rinse the beans, then add them to a large, deep saucepan along with the halved onion, carrot, celery, garlic, thyme and bay leaves. Cover with plenty of fresh water and stir in ½ teaspoon of salt. Bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the beans are tender. Discard the vegetables and aromatics and drain the beans, reserving the cooking liquor.
- Preheat the oven to 160°C, fan 140°C, gas 3. In a jug, combine the espresso powder and 200ml of the reserved bean cooking liquor. Add the maple syrup, Worcestershire sauce and mustard and stir to combine. Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole set over a medium-high heat. Add the bacon and sauté for 5 minutes until any fat has rendered and the bacon is lightly golden. Add the sliced onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes.
- Tip the beans into the casserole and stir in the coffee-maple mixture. Add more of the reserved cooking liquor so that the liquid just covers the beans, season with plenty of black pepper and stir everything together. Bring to the boil, then transfer to the oven, uncovered. Cook for 4 hours, stirring every hour or so and topping up with more of the reserved cooking liquor if the beans start to look a little dry. If you run out of cooking liquor, use water.
- Once the beans are tender and the sauce is thick, remove from the oven and give everything a stir. There should be enough sauce to just coat the beans – if not, stir in enough hot water to create a coating consistency. Add the vinegar and stir to combine, seasoning to taste.
-
Ladle the beans into bowls, top with the soured cream and serve with the soda bread, if using.
*Check your Worcestershire sauce is gluten-free.
