My husband loves baked beans. Like, LOVES them. And with all the grilling we’ve been doing these days, it seemed wrong not to at least give baked beans a whirl. But not those pre-made cans of mush loaded with high fructose corn syrup — the real deal. Dried beans. With bacon. Coffee. And of course, beer and bourbon. Because, come on. Did you really think I’d skip the booze? Please. (Oddly enough, the original recipe, which came from Esquire’s Eat Like a Man, didn’t include beer. Leave it up to a woman to figure that one out.)

It’s kind of funny that, although the weather has been a steady 100-degrees around here for the past week or so, I still decided to make a recipe that spends hours cooking in the oven. Hot? Yes. But they make your house smell amazing in the process. The only downfall? Having to wait four hours to eat them. Because they’re good. Really, really good.

Your next BBQ needs these beans. Heck, your husband needs these beans. And I bet you’ll like them, too.

Spicy Bourbon Baked Beans

Slightly adapted from Esquire’s Eat Like a Man 

What you need:

• 16 ounces (1 pound) dried beans (I used pinto, but you could use whatever kind you like)
• 1/2 pound smoked bacon, chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup (I used one that was aged in bourbon barrels)
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 cup Sriracha
• 1/4 cup Chipotle Tabasco (or any other chipotle-flavored hot sauce)
• 1/2 cup bourbon
• 1/2 cup strong coffee
• 1 cup fresh pineapple, minced into a pulp
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup beer (I used Half Acre Gossamer, a golden ale)
• 2 cups water
• Salt and pepper, to taste

How you do it:

The night before:

Put the beans in a large bowl, cover with water, and let soak overnight. They’ll double in volume as they soak.

The next day:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
2. Drain and rinse the beans. Set aside.
3. In a large Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium-high heat until lightly browned. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Add the tomato paste and cook for one minute.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients (with the exception of the salt and pepper) raise the heat, and bring the beans to a slow boil. Then cover and cook in the oven for four hours, stirring two or three times during the cooking process.
5. After four hours, remove the beans from the oven and season with salt and pepper to taste.