My name isn’t Jack and I don’t have a bean stalk…but I do have some Magical Beans

Now that the weather is finally nice in Chicago, we’ve been grilling out on the deck a lot lately and one of my favorite summer side dishes is Baked Beans.  Sure, I’ll eat the kind straight out of the can…as long as it doesn’t have any of that mysterious meat disguised as “bacon” in it…but I prefer jazzing them up a bit and giving them that Southern-style Barbecue Baked Bean flair.  And something about these beans is pretty friggin magical…people LOVE them!  I was shocked, as I know they’re tasty, but it’s kinda strange when you invite people over for dinner and they RAVE about the beans?!  I mean, beans are great and all, but you would have thought I bought magic beans from the Fairy Godmother down the street for this recipe.  I’m almost embarrassed because it’s such an easy, nothing to it kinda recipe made with a bunch of canned beans…yet I’m 2 for 2 this summer on people just losing their minds over these beans!  It goes to show you that you don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen on some fancy schmancy ooo lala dish, when all it takes is the right recipe and a couple cans of magical beans. 

 

 

Barbecue Baked Beans

• 6 slices bacon
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (16 ounce) can pinto beans
• 1 (16 ounce) can great Northern beans, drained
• 2 (16 ounce) cans baked beans
• 1 (16 ounce) can red kidney beans, drained
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup 100% pure maple syrup…no bottles of Aunt Jemima here! 
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

 

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons of drippings, chop into small pieces and set aside in a large bowl.
2. Cook the onion and garlic in the reserved drippings until onion is tender; drain excess grease and transfer to the bowl with the bacon.
3. To the bacon (only use about 3/4 of the bacon bits…save the rest for the top) and onions, add pinto beans, northern beans, baked beans, and kidney beans. Stir in ketchup, maple syrup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and black pepper. Mix well and transfer to a 9×12 inch casserole dish.  Top with remaining chopped bacon bits.
4. Cover and bake in preheated oven for 1 hour.
5. Take in all the multiple compliments you receive on your magical beans and don’t dare tell your guests how easy it was to throw together. 

An oldie but a goodie…and an unexpected newbie.

I’m a planner.  I love making plans and lists and routines….man, do I love a good ole routine!  You could say spontaneity is not really my friend.  Every once in awhile though, I get a little bit wild and crazy and veer from my usual plans.  My office was holding a charity bake sale and I had planned for about a week to make one of my favs…Black Bottom cake, aka, Chocolate Bundt Cake with Chocolate Chip Cheesecake filling.  I’ve made it for my coworkers before as cupcakes, so I figured I would play it safe and go with something I knew everyone liked.  Well, once I made the cake, it just didn’t seem like enough when I have a certain baking reputation in the office.  It was late at night and I wasn’t about to run out to the store, so to the pantry I went to see what I could scrounge up.  I found a box of graham crackers, chocolate chips, and marshmallow fluff…I may not be able to bring a bonfire to work, but I was going to figure out someway to bring the S’mores there.   A couple google searches later and I had a graham cracker cookie dough layered with warm milk chocolate and melty marshmallow fluff, all topped with another layer of graham cracker cookie dough to keep this treat as close to the real campfire sandwich as possible.   I was pleasantly surprised in my recipe spontaneity and even more surprised when my coworkers went bonkers over these simple and unplanned treats!  Don’t get me wrong, they usually love just about any baked good, but you would have thought I put some magic koolaid in these suckers with how much they were entranced by their goodness!  It certainly doesn’t take much to make them happy…although, I learned what doesn’t make them happy…when the boss buys my whole bundt cake before they could get their ravenous little hands on it.  It was certainly flattering though, so I will definitely be repeating that cake recipe yet again to keep the baked good peace in the office. 

 

 

 

S’mores Bars (no planning necessary)

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 king-sized milk chocolate bars (if you’re embracing spontaneity like me, then you’ll have to use about 2 cups of milk chocolate chips since that’s all you could find in your pantry)
• 1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.  In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.
3. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan.
4. Place chocolate bars over dough.  Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff (this is where having chocolate bars instead of chips comes in handy, but it all tastes the same in the end).
5. Roll out remaining dough to about 1/4 inch thick and places as a single layer on top of the fluff (if you care less about aesthetics then just flatten the dough into small shingles and lay them together on top…i’m a tad more OCD so rolling is how i roll).
6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.  Instruct ravenous coworkers to nuke in the microwave for 15-20 seconds for that authentic melty campfire taste. 

 

And just for kicks, here’s a shoutout to that oldie but a goodie Chocolate Bundt Cake with Chocolate Chip Cheesecake filling…this time with a Cream Cheese Glaze…another office winner that bosses and coworkers will fight over.