Cooking Beans in Bulk

Several years ago I started buying dry beans in 25 lb bags.  I'm cheap and when I figured the cost of canned versus dry it was ridiculous.  Plus I'm not a fan of cans because of the BPA coating inside the cans (another post for another day).  So I began cooking my own beans.

My favorite way to do beans is in the crock pot.  Here is what I do:

2 cups unsoaked beans

8 cups water

Any seasoning

Cook for 6-8 hours and then package and freeze.

I use mashed beans in my cookies so when I cook those I use either pinto or navy beans, (I like white for sugar cookies, otherwise I just use what I have) I put a few teaspoons of vanilla and a few teaspoons of cinnamon in with the beans as they cook. When they are done I run them through the food processor until they are smooth (add water as needed to make a thick but blendable paste). Then I measure out 1/2 cup of beans, plop into regular size cupcake pan (no wrappers needed) and repeat.  Then I put the pan in the freezer for 12 hours or so then pop the beans out (sometimes I have to run warm water over the back of the pan).  I bag these and keep them in my freezer so I have them for cookies.

I cook black beans with garlic powder and onion salt. Then package in 1 cup proportions to use for dinners and soups.

I also cook pinto beans with this method and use them for my Spicy Bean Dip recipe, which we also use as refried beans at our house.

You can put the beans in the crockpot in the morning and have them for dinner or you can put them in before bed and package them in the morning.