Saving money is only one reason I can food at home. Another is better quality - and this baked beans recipe
falls into that category. My family loves this recipe (even my picky eater!), and canning it saves lots of time over making it from scratch on a meal-by-meal basis. To make the recipe more frugal, I encourage you to use homemade catsup and maple syrup, if you have either. Otherwise, try to get the more expensive ingredients (maple syrup, catsup, and molasses) on sale. And while I've given some notes on substitutions you may safely use, I recommend trying the recipe as is first.

How to Can Baked Beans

1 lb. Great Northern/Navy beans
1/2 cup chopped leeks (you can also use onions or onion scapes; the difference in flavor is only slight)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses (may be reduced, if desired)
1 1/2 teaspoons mustard powder
1 teaspoon kosher or canning salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 cups catsup (if using store bought, I recommend Heinz, which doesn't have bad-for-you high fructose corn syrup in it)
1 cup real maple syrup (may be reduced; you can even omit the syrup and just use more brown sugar)
1/2 cup white vinegar (apple cider vinegar is fine, too, as long as it has 5% acidity)

If you are a novice canner, before you begin, be sure to review the guidelines for pressure canning.

1. Pour the beans into a large pot and cover with 8 cups of water. Cover with lid and place over medium high heat and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes.
2. Turn off the heat and allow the covered pot to sit for 45 minutes.



3. Drain. Pour the beans back in the pot and cover with 8 cups of fresh water. Add the leeks and place over medium high heat. Bring to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes.
4. In the meantime, prepare jars and lids - then, the sauce: Pour 2 cups of water, the brown sugar, molasses, mustard powder, salt, pepper, catsup, syrup, and vinegar into a large saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to a gentle boil. This mixture should not be thick, or it will make the recipe unsafe to can - don't overcook and thicken.
5. Working one jar at a time, fill a hot pint jar 3/4 full of the beans/leeks mixture, using a slotted spoon and draining as much cooking water from each spoonful as possible before adding the beans to the jar. Ladle enough of the molasses mixture over the beans to achieve 1 inch headspace. Bubble. Add lid and screw band, and place in canner of hot water. Repeat until all the jars are filled.


6. Process pint jars for 75 minutes in a pressure canner at 11 pounds of pressure.*
Makes about 8 pints. Recipe adapted from SB Canning.

* NOTE: If you live at a high altitude, read this important information about adjusting canning times.