For most folks the first thing that comes to mind when you mention a coffee recipe is coffee cake. What is funny is that coffee cake is something that you have when drinking coffee but does not contain any coffee. There are, however, recipes for things that actually contain coffee. The point of adding coffee to other foods is to increase flavor more so than add caffeine to your food. As such we offer our readers a coffee baked beans recipe.

Why Do We Add Spices to Our Food?

Back in the Middle Ages the European nobility paid princely sums for spices like peppercorns imported from the orient. They did this as much to disguise the fact that food was often spoiled as to improve the flavor. But today we add spices to our food to enhance the flavor and aroma. In the case of coffee, adding a bit of brewed coffee to your cooking provides an earthy, deep, and rich flavor.

Adding Coffee to Baked Beans

You can make this recipe with canned baking beans or with dry beans that you need to soak first. If you are soaking the beans add just a fourth cup of brewed coffee, preferably arabica and ideally from Colombia. If you are using a can of beans add your coffee and allow to sit for an hour before proceeding with the rest of the recipe. A good recipe is as follows:

• Four slices of bacon, diced
• One sweet onion chopped up
• 28 ounce can or dry bean equivalent of baked beans
• One fourth cup of bar-b-que sauce
• One tablespoonful of brown sugar
• One tablespoonful of apple cider vinegar
• One teaspoonful of Dijon mustard
• One fourth cup of brewed coffee

Brew your coffee and use to soak the dry beans or simply set aside for mixing with everything before cooking.

Fry the bacon and save the grease

Fry the onions in the bacon grease until caramelized

Mix the ingredients well and add to a baking dish. Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 175 degrees Celsius. Bake of an hour and a half and then check every 15 minutes. The beans will be done at around two hours. Make sure to remove if they start to burn on the edges.

Allow the dish to set five to ten minutes outside of the oven before serving.

This dish serves six to eight people.

Image Courtesy of Just a Pinch

Baking With Coffee

Coffee is a good flavor enhancer to use when baking numerous foods. Recipes including chocolate are almost always improved with the addition of coffee. Coffee and citrus go well together when making ice cream. Coffee can also be added when making rye bread! If you like beef, try a coffee-rubbed steak of coffee mixed into your beef stew. For a great dessert try coffee crème caramel.

For Coffee Baking Success Use Coffee With Great Flavor

The point of adding coffee when baking is not to provide coffee’s wake-me-up effect. It is a lot easier to get that simply by brewing a cup of coffee. Rather you are looking to enhance the flavor of your dish. So, make sure you use coffee that has the best flavor and aroma which means you should use arabica coffee, fresh, and ideally gourmet quality. Fortunately, you do not need to pay exorbitant prices for high quality coffee if you buy coffee from Colombia. For help getting great Colombian coffee, contact us at admin@buyorganiccoffee.org.