Vegan Baked Beans

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Step 2

Place the dried mushrooms in a medium bowl and cover with 2 cups boiling water, make sure each mushroom is submerged. Let steep for 10 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer, reserving the liquid. Roughly chop the steeped mushrooms and set aside.

Step 3

Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions, bell peppers and chopped mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are slightly softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic, chili powder, smoked paprika and cayenne and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Step 4

Add the tomato puree, bourbon, molasses, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, bring to a simmer and cook to combine, about 3 minutes. Add the beans, vegetable broth and reserved mushroom liquid. Raise the heat to high, bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Cover the pot, transfer to the oven and bake until the beans are tender, about 3 hours.

Step 5

Uncover and increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake until the sauce thickens and the beans on top begin to brown, about 30 minutes.