The recipe I have used in the past is from an old Red Checked Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. It is well received and not overly sweet. It uses just 2 tbls of brown sugar, 1 tsp. of prepared mustard, but also uses just 2-1# cans of beans. It still seems like your recipe is heavy on the sugar. Do the reviews mention being too sweet?

stir_fryi, you can easily cut the sugar down to however you like. I make "cheater" beans, as does Chase, with canned beans. I use the KC Masterpiece brand because I like them. I've also used Bush's, or just plain old canned beans, whatever is on sale.

I pour in some catsup, a squirt of yellow mustard, maybe 1/4 cup of brown sugar but more likely some molasses or maple syrup. Stir it up, put it in the oven and bake it until it's as thick as you like, I do mine a couple of hours, or I do them in a crockpot for 4 or 5.

So, the recipe you posted is similar to mine and to Sharon/Chase's. Make them your own, cut the sugar, add some bacon if you like, or your choice of beans. My daughter puts browned and crumbled ground beef in hers because her husband likes that. It's all good, I love baked beans.

Annie

When I make "baked beans" I don't want several kinds of beans in the pot. I will do a "cow boy beans" thing that uses several kinds, but for baked beans I want just navy beans.
Unless you are dealing with dry beans, I call it "doctored up beans" and for 8 I would use 2 tall, 16 oz cans of baked beans...B and M original style, not smoked nor any of the other variations.
Dump the beans into a deep casserole dish and add about

2 Tablespoons of finely chopped onion,

2 strips of bacon chopped ( raw, not cooked)

2 tablespoons catchup
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
3 T brown sugar....but I like them sweet, so you will want to cut that to 1 tablespoon....you can always add more...but it's hard to take it out.
2 teaspoons of black strap molasses. That adds a very "brown" taste without adding sweet. regular molasses won't do, it's too sweet.
Then put into a casserole with a lid and bake at 325 for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring about every 20 minutes....then remove lid and continue baking until as thick as you want. I hate soupy beans that run all over the plate.
I usually make double this recipe, and have enough to serve beans as a side for a couple of days.

Actually it gets good reviews but most bb recipes on that site do! Last question, do they thicken when you bake them uncovered or should I cover them???

They will thicken when baked uncovered....the water evaporates..keep in mind that the only moisture in those beans is the moisture in the one can of baked beans, the catchup and the melted sugar. They could easily get over dry
I am sure is gets good reviews....first of all how can ti be bad? But it's not what I think of as "baked beans".
And some studies show that the people who review recipes very very often haven't made the recipe but are simply going by "this sounds good" sort of review.

Yes, like Annie I do love cheater baked beans! Easy peasy and delish . These are a must have staple on my T-Day table and Christmas table and every single time I BBQ ribs or ham

My "recipe" is a large can of brown beans, like Bush brand, a regular can of red kidney Beans ,drained and regular can of lima beans, drained. Don't worry about the lima beans they are perfect ! Can also add a can of chickpeas

To that I add 1 jar of chile sauce such as Willies ( not the Heinz stuff ...too sweet) , a big squirt of dijon mustard, a large splash of Lea and Perrins and maybe, or maybe not, some brown sugar. Top with some bacon slices....or not ...and bake at 375 until nice and bubbly , maybe 40 minutes. If I use the bacon I discard it because it is not crisp...but it does add flavour

Chase, your recipe sounds wonderful. The lima beans took me by surprise, but since you recommend them I'll definitely buy them.

I make that with the limas and the other beans....and call it Chuck wagon beans....and brown some hamburger and put in it....or leftover hap if I have some hanging around...but if you use ham watch the salt!
Great potluck dish!

I bake from dried beans and it's very easy -- navy, red kidney or Jacob's Cattle beans. Beans get soaked overnight. Drained and rinsed in AM. Lightly parboiled, drained and rinsed. Then put into a real bean pot (I have a couple of old times ones) with lean salt pork, quartered yellow onion, bay leaf, dry mustard, bit of brown sugar and bot of molasses, ketchup, salt, 57 sauce, bit of hot water. Bake with cover on bean pot in slow (250 deg F) oven for ?4 hours or so. Add hot b water as necessary to cover top surface of beans in pot. Some of the salt pork will be at the top. The last hour of cooking, the cover (often a small saucer if original cover has been lost or broken) gets removed. This allows the salt pork at the top to get roasted.

The house gets warm and smell Yankee home wonderful. My father would make baked bean every Saturday for his large family. Both my parents were good cooks. My mother would usually make a baked pie (all from scratch) -- often apple, lemon meringue, pineapple, or deep dish custard. Or brownies or pineapple upside down cake. Cornbread goes very well with baked beans and corn and beans offer complementary proteins.

I've tried crock pot baked beans from scratch and they were very good too.

The suggestions offered for "doctored baked beans" look very promising & I may try them sometime.

Oh, another thing -- a simple tossed salad is very nice with the beans (or Coke slaw).

Now you folks have got me craving baked beans!

Have fun cooking, Stir-Fry.

And a few drops of Liquid Smoke trumps it---

Make Baked Beans great again!

Belief me!

dcarch :-)

For canned beans doctored up, we tried and did not like Bush's brand (despite the commercials), but love B&M brand.

We used to eat B&M, but now prefer Bush's Original.

I saute chopped onion in chopped bacon and then add the beans. Doesn't get any easier than that.

If I were making it, I would leave out the brown sugar altogether, as I do not like baked beans with sugar. I never eat them when someone else makes them because invariably they are too sweet for me. If you use ketchup, that is already sweet, and if you feel compelled, you could add one tablespoon of brown sugar. Then, towards the end, if you still want it sweeter, you can add molasses, which will dissolve and combine without further cooking. I also think molasses has a better flavor than sugar. I cook beans a lot, but none of my recipes have sugar.

Hmm....much prefer B and M to Bush's. Bush's are always lots cheaper, and if I am pinching pennies as for a church meal, I'll buy Bush's and wash the nasty goop off.

I love me some nasty goop.

SMH

I also like Bush's, they are my second choice to the KC Masterpiece, I like the bacon version of those, but the brown sugar version of Bush's. I add brown sugar because my grandson likes 'em sweet and sticky. I add molasses because I like molasses, and like Chase, I sometimes add bacon slices to the top while baking.

Annie

To each his own...I eat cold pot roast gravy on a beef sandwich, but wash any Bush's beans.

Well we had two people from Canada and two from Mexico (company employees here for a meeting) -- here last night for an "American BBQ". Hamburgers, brats, cheezy potatoes and bake beans. I have to say, that recipe is a HIT! I don't even care for BB that much but I liked these. I am putting in my file for future use....

Just want to add, for those who might use it -- I did bake them covered because they don't have a lot of liquid in them.

Here is the recipe I have used for many, many, many years.

Oh, just saw you have already made them. Will post anyway.

Boston Baked Beans

I have used this
recipe since the very early 1960s and have no recollection of where I got it
although it may have been from a magazine
that Ford used to publish. Everyone loves them, because they are
delicious. People are always asking me to bring them to get togethers.

2 No. 2 cans pork and beans (each can 16 oz)

4 T brown sugar (1/4 cup)

1/2 cup catsup

2 T mustard

1 medium onion, minced (I grate the onion right over the
beans)

1 T honey

Mix all of the above together and place in a baking
dish. Cover with two of three strips of
bacon (honestly, after the first time of preparing these many, many years ago,
we never wanted the bacon again – made it too greasy). Bake at 250 for about 2 hours. Serves 8

Pretty close to what I do....but be aware....the kind of beans you use makes all the difference. Van Camps pork and beans will yield a very different product than B and M.