Ingredients

2 cups (450g bag) dry navy beans, (rinsed, soaked overnight/8hrs, drained & rinsed again)
1 white or yellow onions, diced
3 cups apple cider (NOT mulled apple cider, only ingredient should be apples)
2 tsp salt
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp dijon mustard or mustard powder
1/2 cup pure maple syrup (I like amber for this recipe)
optional: 1-2 tsp of dried time (less if it was dried at home), few cracks of black pepper, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 lb bacon or pork belly (diced)

Method

1. Pick through beans to remove any bad beans or small stones that may have been missed during sorting. Make sure that you have followed the steps in the ingredients for the beans before starting the recipe in the slow cooker; rinse the dried beans, cover them in 6-8 cups of water to soak overnight (or at least 8 hours), then drain that water and rinse the soaked beans.
2. Place all of the ingredients into your slow cooker.
3. Turn the slow cooker to high and leave to cook for 5-7 hours, or until beans have absorbed most of the liquid, are tender, and have become brown in colour.
4. Season to taste.

Notes:

1. If you heat your apple cider before adding it to the slow cooker, you can cut down on an hour or two of cooking. I would start with only 2 cups of hot cider and add another cup of hot cider later if you find that it is drying too much before the beans have absorbed all of the liquid. This may affect the texture of the beans a bit as they may break apart more easily.
2. This recipe is great with breakfasts as an vegan protein source, and I love having it on gluten free toast as a snack. It is also magnificent with barbecue and my sweet and colourful coleslaw.
3. I find that these homemade baked beans are a lot easier on my digestive system, and don’t make me as bloated or gassy, compared to canned beans.