Jazzing Up Grandma Brown's Baked Beans

[nybirder]

I don't really have a set recipe because both my mother and I seemed to make them different every time. I usually add and taste until I get what tastes good. We always had bacon baked on the top.

Here's a general guide gathered from what I have seen people do--
Use a can of Grandma Brown's Beans, either large or small, and mix that with a small amount of ketchup, yellow mustard, light brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar. Add small amounts in the beginning, until you get it the way you want it. Chopped onions are nice when mixed in before baking. Cooked bacon is also good mixed in this or uncooked on top of beans till bacon is browned. Then, put it into a baking dish, into a 350* oven till bubbly.

Here is an actual recipe I found:

Baked Beans with Gramma Brown’s Help
www.justapinch.com/print/side/other-side-dish/baked-beans-with-grama-browns-help.html

I’m not sure what is meant by a large can—perhaps the 22 oz., not the 16 oz.?

Serves: 10-12

2 can(s) big cans grandma brown baked beans
1 c ketchup
1 c brown sugar, light
1/2 c mustard
1/2 c maple syrup
6 slice bacon
Dash(es) salt and pepper
1 medium onion

1. Cut bacon into pieces cook until slightly done, drain fat. Cut up onion, saute until cooked. Open cans of baked beans add bacon and onion.

2. Add ketchup mustard and rest of ingredients into casserole dish, mix well. Place into oven at 350, and bake. You can also put cooked strips of bacon on top of beans.

[nancycooksnj]

Thank you for the recipe Birdy. Looks easy enough to make and tasty as well. We don't have that brand of beans in our area. I will try this with Campbells brand.


Nancy

[annrms]

Thanks, Birdy! Whenever we had our regional favorite...B&M Beans we would doctor it up mustard, onion, and lots of black pepper!!! After reading something about it somewhere, I put raisins into the mix...not bad! I'm hoping on trying Grandma's tonight, but DH may vote for leftover sauce & meatballs!!

[cooktocook]

Thanks Birdy for sharing.

We do not have this brand of canned beans in this area, but the recipe you posted is one I remember my mother using when I was young with Van de Camp pork and beans.  I use that same recipe today, however, I use the Bush brand beans.

Lori

[nybirder]

I should add that Grandma Brown's Beans are not especially sweet. So if you use other brands you may have to go carefully with the sweet additions suggested in this recipe until you get them to your taste. Bush beans, which I also use because I can get small cans, are definitely sweeter to begin with.

Birdy

[judeg]

Hi! New to this forum and I am looking for a recipe for Mexican flavored beans and cake across this thread I too hail from upstate New York (Wolcott) and grew up with Grandma Browns beans. My mom’s recipe and my go to summer recipe is slightly different from others I see here. I use the biggest can (perfect for a 13x9 pan). To that I add one medium chopped onion and any spicy barbecue sauce. Eyeball it to coat the beans but not so much to make them too soupy. Place about 6-8 slices of bacon that have been sliced into squares on top of the beans to cover the top. Then cover the bacon with brown sugar. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes until bubbly. Then turn the broiler in and let the top get all bubbly. Watch carefully so as not to burn them! The sweet of the brown sugar and the spicy barbecue sauce is something special!

[wilderness]

Judy, welcome to The Gardener's Shed and the Cook's Crock.  Hope you continue to join us.  Lots of great friendly folks here.  I am the admin for this form.  I live in the Adirondack Mountains about 80 miles to the south of the Canadian Border and about 40 minutes SE of Lake Placid where the Olympic were held twice.

As far as Grandma Browns Bake Beans.  Love them.  We always do them with dry mustard and molasses to taste, cover them will bacon and bake.  Have no idea how long just until they have dried out a bit as we prefer our baked bean on the dry side and not soupy.

Bet

[emr]

Like some of y'all, I don't know the Grandma Brown's brand but my go-to baked bean recipe is similar. I got it years ago from a BH&G kids' cookbook and have used it ever since.

2 cans pork & beans, undrained
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. catsup
1 Tbsp. prepared mustard
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
chopped or dried onion, to taste

Mix and place in a lightly greased 2-qt casserole dish. Top with 2 slices of bacon, criss-crossed. Bake at 350* for 1 hr. 

[wilderness]

The difference with Grandma Brown's Baked Beans is they only have 6 ingredients

Water, Navy Beans, Brown Sugar, Bacon, Salt and Baking Soda.  Not much more than the boiled beans that you would have if you were starting from scratch.  The brown sugar is very minimal.

Bet

[nybirder]

Judy--welcome! I'm from central NY and grew up with Grandma Brown's beans. Not too many people we knew would bother to bake their own from scratch but use GB's with their own special seasonings. In fact, I have a suspicion that there were more than one who passed off GB's as their own! LOL!

As Bet said, GB's are not really all that sweet so if you are looking at recipes built around them, be careful if you are using other canned beans which tend to be much sweeter.

You can always tell when summer picnic season is here when you see the extra-large cans of GB's being picked up!

Birdy