Smoky Baked Black Beans

Soak beans in a large bowl of water overnight (ensure beans are completely covered and water is at least two inches above the beans).

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Using a slotted spoon, remove beans from water (reserve water for later).

In a round shallow Dutch oven or braiser pot (about 4-quart), place beans. Add oregano, garlic, bay leaves, chipotle pepper flakes, chipotle powder, chili powder, tomato paste, bbq sauce, stock, brown sugar, onion and pepper. Stir to combine. Cover and bake for 3 hours.

After 3 hours, remove from oven, add 1 cup of the reserved bean water and stir to combine. Add another cup of water another hour later. Finally, after the last hour, remove from oven and add 1 1/2 cups of the reserved water, salt and stir to combine. Enjoy!

Notes:
1. You can substitute vegetarian stock instead of the chicken stock to make this recipe vegetarian/vegan.
2. If you don’t have both chipotle pepper flakes and chipotle powder, you can use all flakes or all powder.