Maple Baked Beans

The "Maple Baked Beans" (page 257) are delightful!  There are a couple things going for these beans - they are easy to put together (especially if you use canned beans), and they don't have to cook all day, even though they taste like they did.  I admit, I was a little concerned that with both maple syrup and blackstrap molasses, they would end up being too sweet, but this wasn't the case at all.  Combining the sweeteners with the tanginess and hot from the mustard powder and cayenne yielded a wonderfully perfect blend of flavors.  It seems like it would be easy to double this recipe if you wanted an easy and tasty potluck dish. I'm sure everyone would be asking you for the recipe.

The only change required to make this McDougall friendly was to omit the oil when sautéing the onions.  Another change I made, and this is just personal preference, was adding the garlic just before popping the beans into the oven, rather than sautéing them with the onions at the beginning of the recipe.  I often add garlic towards the end of a dish so the flavor remains intact.