This baked bean dish brings back fond memories of my Aunt Pauline who lived too far away from us to see very often. I don’t have too many memories of her, but I do remember her big old Victorian house (with the scary basement), her quiet, kind demeanor and her baked beans. Sweetened up Great Northern beans and bacon baked in an oven and served up in her sunny kitchen.
I’m not sure if this is her exact recipe since I never got it before she passed away, but I think it’s pretty close. If you like your beans sweet, you’ll enjoy this! All you need are 4 ingredients.
Sweet Sugar Beans with Bacon
Ingredients:
1 large can (40.5 oz.) of Great Northern beans
1/2 pound uncooked bacon, cut up
2/3 cup white, granulated sugar
1 teaspoon garlic salt
Directions:
Stir together the beans (and liquid), bacon pieces, sugar and garlic salt in a bowl until well combined. Pour into a casserole dish, cover with foil or lid, and bake in a 400 degree oven for 1 hour.
Notes:
– If you can’t find a large can of beans, you can use 2 1/2 regular sized cans (15 oz.?? each).
– I use center cut bacon because it’s leaner, and I usually cut off the parts that are just fat.
– You can do these in the slow cooker as well, but I have not tried that yet to say how long they need to cook. Maybe I’ll try that next time and report back. 
~Micha
Watch out for the slow cooker – if you start with dry beans, it doesn’t cook them at a hot enough temperature to convert certain proteins in some kinds of beans to harmless versions. If you use canned or precooked beans, no problem!
Thanks for the info! Yes, I use the canned ones for this…
Slow cooker for canned beans would be fine – just set on the lowest temperature. The canned beans are already cooked through, so baking them for hours and hours would eventually turn them to “re-fried” beans. OR worse beans as hard as rocks. Be sure there is enough liquid. But on the lowest setting it should be fine for maybe even four hours. Sounds delicious and thanks!
Thanks Cat!