My Best Baked Beans

1. 1

   Heat oven to 350 degrees F. and place oven rack one place above the middle position.

2. 2

   Heat a large skillet to medium heat and add chopped bacon. Cook for about 3 minutes, until starts to soften and release fat.

3. 3

   Add onion and stir together with bacon. Continue to cook on medium heat until bacon is well crisped, stirring occasionally. If necessary, lower heat to medium-low during cooking. (Do NOT drain fat from mixture. This is one time you want it.)

4. 4

   Once bacon is cooked and onions are starting to caramelize, add brown sugar, tomato sauce, Worcestershire, horseradish, mustard, hot sauce, salt and pepper. Stir until brown sugar is well dissolved, about 3 minutes.

5. 5

   In a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish, add drained beans.

6. 6

   Stir bacon/onion mixture into the beans.

7. 7

   Bake for 25 minutes, uncovered. Lower heat to 325 degrees F and cook at least another 20 minutes, or up to 35 minutes. (You may start to think that the beans are getting too dry. Once you stir them after removing from the oven, all the ingredients come back together and the tastes will have melded perfectly!)

8. 8

   Cook's note: Dry beans are even tastier than canned, but require advanced prep. After beans have been soaked, you want a total of 5-6 cups beans, using quantities of 50% pinto beans, 25% each of red and black beans. I used canned most of the time due to time constraints and they're fabulous.

* Per serving · 4 servings · Values may vary.