Aunt Dottie’s New England Baked Beans
My aunt’s New England Baked Beans are part family tradition and part geographic tradition.
Some recipes are so ingrained in a part of the country that they become a part of daily life. Baked beans are ingrained into daily life in New England. Baked beans and Boston Brown Bread are available at many neighborhood restaurants and most church dinners.
My dad’s family is from New England. They lived in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont. We often went to Vermont to visit my grandparents and my aunt & uncle when I was a girl.
My Aunt Dottie and Uncle Phil still live there. My cousins, Ginny and Judi, have spent many hours, days, weeks and years researching our family genealogy.
I have always been fascinated by the stories of families and where people come from. There are some doozies! Stories about the Mayflower, Lizzie Bordon, whale hunting and dairy farming are the most exciting stories.
The tales about day to day life are interesting and amazing, when compared to conveniences we have today.
My grandparents in New England, circa 1930s
As with most families, we have favorite meals and recipes that have been handed down. This recipe is a classic New England recipe – both filling and inexpensive.
Make it a Meal:
Serve these baked beans with your favorite sandwich and a small salad for a hearty supper. If you’re looking for a smaller meal, a serving of beans a slice of bread will hold you over.
Variations:
Add diced celery, green peppers or carrots for extra flavor and color. Mix the type up beans you use, add some kidney beans and black beans to the navy beans.
Gathering Ingredients
I’ve read so many cookbooks, I can’t begin to count them. There is one bit of advice that I’ve read in nearly all of them. That tip is to gather all your ingredients before you begin following the recipe instructions. The French term is mis en place. That’s about as much French as I know.
This is really, super great advice! You know why? – You discover if you have all of the ingredients to make the recipe or not! I took that advice this morning, when I decided I wanted to make these baked beans.
It’s a good thing I did too. I discovered that I didn’t have the ground ginger called for in Aunt Dot’s recipe. (keep reading for how I dealt with that problem!)
After I had my ingredients in one spot, I thought they looked very interesting, so I set up most of them for a photo shoot. (I left the syrup and molasses in the kitchen, because they can be a sticky mess and I was afraid I’d gum up my camera!)
I played around with the ingredients – yes, it is ok to play with your food sometimes! And the picture above is one of my favorites.Don’t you love my grandma’s (now antique and collectible) measuring spoons?!
Here’s another picture of the beans and the onion … the colors look so good together!
Mixing Spices
It can be a trick to get your spices blended evenly throughout your recipe. Â A trick I use to make sure the spices are distributed equally in all corners of my pan and all servings of my recipe, is to mix the spices in their own bowl before adding them to the recipe.
In the picture below, you’ll see I’ve measured the four spices in this recipe and placed them in a condiment dish. A prep bowl, measuring cup, tea cup or shot glass would work as well as my pretty blue bowl. Once I have all the spices in this small bowl, I mix them together, usually stirring with a fork to mix the ingredients. 
I like this picture because you can clearly see the four separate spices, pepper, cinnamon, mustard and salt. I substituted cinnamon in my version for the ginger called for in Aunt Dot’s recipe. Why?
1. because I was out of ginger. 2. I didn’t want to run to the store. 3. I had cinnamon (just a teaspoon). 4. We like cinnamon.
Guess what the first two items on the grocery list are for next week? Â – right! Ginger and Cinnamon!
Bean Pot
My husband’s family comes from the same New England region that mine does. His ancestors and mine both owned dairy farms in the same county. I can imagine his great-something-grandfather trading stories with my great-something-grandfather.
The shared New England heritage probably explains the bean pot my husband brought to our household when we married. (He is not a cook, although he is a keeper!) This bean pot is ceramic with a lid. It is 5 inches tall and 9 inches in diameter -about the same size as a medium mixing bowl.
If you don’t have a bean pot, don’t fret. You can use any covered casserole dish or Dutch Oven that will hold two quarts. If you don’t have a covered casserole dish, an 8 x 8 baking pan covered tightly with aluminum foil will also work.
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My Aunt Dottie shared this recipe with her daughter, Judi, who in turn passed it along to me.
Aunt Dottie’s New England Baked Beans Recipe
Ingredients:
1 lb beans
2 or 3 oz of salt pork or bacon
1 onion
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp dry ginger
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/3 c molasses
1/3 c real maple syrup (if you don’t have this use brown sugar)
Recipe Directions:
Sort and soak beans overnight in water. Parboil beans with salt pork or bacon.
Coarsely chop the onion. Combine the spices and syrup/sugar with molasses.
Place everything in the bean pot and cover with water. Bake.
New England Baked Beans
Family tradition that is a New England staple.
Ingredients
- 1 lb beans
- 2 oz salt pork or bacon
- 1 onion
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp dry mustard
- 1/2 tsp dry ginger
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/3 c molasses
- 1/3 c real maple syrup if you don't have this use brown sugar
Instructions
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Wash, sort and soak beans overnight in water.
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Parboil beans with salt pork or bacon.
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Coarsely chop the onion.
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Combine the spices and syrup/sugar with molasses.
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Dump all together into the bean pot.
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Cover with water.
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Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour then reduce heat to 225 for (depends on the beans) and bake for an additional 4-5 hours for Navy beans or 6-8 hours for larger beans like Soldier.
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Check on the water from time to time so they don't dry out on top.
Approximate Nutrition Information:
Servings Per Recipe: 10, Amount Per Serving: Calories: 392, Fat: 13g, Cholesterol: 13mg, Sodium: 500mg, Total Carbs: 55g, Protein: 10g.
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LOVE baked beans. This is the perfect comfort food for the upcoming cold weather. Also, the perfect take-along dish.
Gloria, this dish does travel well. My family likes it as one of the items on the menu for fall bonfires and tail gate parties.
I love baked beans, when I lived in New York I made them all the time since moving to Florida I forgot how delicious they are. Your family recipe looks wonderful and a must try soon!
I can imagine baked beans are not a regular menu item in Florida … they tend to be a cool weather food. Make some, you’ll be glad you did!
Now that’s comfort food. I love baked beans. I’d especially go to have breakfast out everytime I travel because I never use to make them myself. This sounds so delicious. Saving for later.
Veena, I know what you mean about comfort food. Now you can have them anytime!
Even now, I like to hear stories about the time when my parents were kids or when my grandparents recollect their growing up years.I haven’t tasted baked beans but it looks good with that bread on the side.
Food is so closely associated with memories and it’s true that the recipes are a reflection of the times.
I have had baked beans many times but have never made them. I love how nice and simple your recipe is to make.
It’s so easy to open a can of beans, that’s often what we do. But when I really want some good old fashioned flavors, this is the recipe I use.
What kind of beans do you use
In this recipe I used dried Navy Beans.
Navy beans.
This looks so delicious. I love baked beans. It always was my favorite comfort food meal. I love the addition of ginger and mustard. What a great twist. Need to make this.
The spices add a unique flavor to these beans. Let me know how you like it!
Really like how you stepped baked beans up a notch. Adding the maple syrup and the molasses is an interesting touch. Oh and it’s nice to see how you added the mise en place tip. Very helpful especially if you re cooking a new recipe (:
Maple syrup is a must have for my family! LOL – it’s the Vermont in us!
Mise en place is so important, but your right, especially when you’re making a new recipe. Nothing like getting to the 3rd step and realizing you’re missing a primary ingredient.
Summer wouldn’t be summer without baked beans as part as a picnic or bbq. It’s only recently that it’s become a popular side — it was a whole meal back in the day. Flavoring it with bacon makes it all the more appealing. I like the use of your seasonings — we spice it up too.
Isn’t it interesting how habits change over time? Something we see as a side today – like you said … Makes me wonder what habits people will have 40 years in the future?
I love baked beans, that’s comfort food for cold weather we are having!
This dish does warm you all the way through.
These look absolutely delicious. I love simple one pot meals like this one. This recipe will be going on our next meal plan for sure.
Great! Glad to offer a new item to your menu rotation!
Perfect comfort food..I love this post..foods comes alive when there is a history behind it. Family recipes are always the best
Recipes handed down are certainly the best ones … Thanks!
This baked beans looks delicious I heard lot about Boston brown bread, not much know about baked beans from there. As Texas version is different. Food and family makes memories, always fun to learn about them.
Texas baked beans are a whole different thing than those from New England! It’s funny how varied a food item can be across different regions.
Baked beans from scratch are the best. These sound great and I love the fresh ham in there too. Nothing compares to those classic family dishes passed down through the years
Gotta have a little pork for flavor!! Family recipes are a great way to teach new generations about the “old times” … with out seeming like you’re lecturing!