Baked Beans

Ingredients

• 1 pound dry navy beans or dry great northern beans (2 1/3 cups)
• 1/4 pound bacon or salt pork, cut up
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup molasses or maple syrup
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

1. Rinse beans. In a 4 1/2-quart Dutch oven combine beans and 8 cups cold water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 1 hour. (Or, skip boiling the water and soak beans overnight in covered pan.) Drain and rinse beans.
2. In the same pan combine beans and 8 cups fresh water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 1 1/4 hours or till tender, stirring occasionally. Drain beans, reserving liquid.
3. In a 2 1/2-quart casserole or bean pot combine the beans, bacon, and onion. Stir in 1 cup of the reserved bean liquid, the molasses or maple syrup, brown sugar, dry mustard, salt, and pepper.
4. Bake, covered, in a 300° oven about 2 1/2 hours or to desired consistency, stirring occasionally. If necessary, add additional reserved bean liquid.