With Labor Day weekend coming up, you may be planning a picnic. And perhaps you’re going to make some baked beans for that picnic. If you happen to have any baked beans left over, you may want to make some Baked Bean Sandwiches. I had no idea there even was such a thing as a Baked Bean Sandwich until several months ago, when I posted a recipe for Honey–Molasses Baked Beans. A reader commented on how much her husband like baked bean sandwiches, so I decided to find out a little more about them. Did you know that recipes for baked bean sandwiches go as far back as 1909? There was a cookbook called “Cooking For Two” by Janet Mckenzie Hill that had this recipe:

1909 BAKED BEAN SANDWICH: Butter two slices of Boston Brown Bread; on one of these dispose a heart leaf of lettuce holding one teaspoon of salad dressing; above the dressing set a generous tablespoon of cold, baked beans, then another lettuce leaf and dressing; finish with a second slice of bread, a tablespoon of beans, a floweret of cauliflower, and a teaspoon of dressing over the cauliflower.

I also came across a recipe for a 1943 Baked Bean Sandwich:

1943 BAKED BEAN SANDWICH: 1 cup baked beans, 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, 1/4 cup chopped celery, 2 teaspoons minced onion, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon chopped pickle, 2 teaspoons catsup, buttered whole wheat bread…Combine all ingredients (except for the bread) and mix well. Spread on buttered bread.

And here’s a more recent recipe from the 1990’s that I modified slightly because the original directions weren’t that clear:

1990’s  BACON, EGG & BAKED BEAN OPEN-FACE SANDWICH: 1 hard-cooked egg, sliced, 1 strip of cooked and crumbled bacon, 1 lettuce leaf, chopped (optional), 1 cup baked beans, hot or cold, 1 slice of toast…Toast bread, then top with baked beans. Sprinkle chopped lettuce, if using, and crumbled bacon over baked beans, then top with slices of hard-cooked egg.

These are some of the fancier versions of baked bean sandwiches I’ve come across. Most people make them simply by putting some baked beans (warm or cold) between two slices of bread, and many prefer white sandwich bread, like the Wonder Bread variety.

But I came up with another version…I guess you could call this the 2012 Baked Bean Sandwich. If you like baked beans, I’m sure you’ll like this!

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2012 BAKED BEAN SANDWICH by NancyC

Makes 4 sandwiches

• 4 hamburger buns or sandwich rolls (I used wheat rolls), or 8 slices of your favorite bread
• 8 slices of cheddar or colby cheese
• 2 cups baked beans (homemade or from a can)
• 4 slices of sweet yellow onion, sliced as thick or thin as you want
• 4 Tablespoons bacon pieces from a jar (or cook up 4 slices of bacon and crumble)
• softened butter for spreading on bread
• lettuce leaves and tomato slices (optional)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Spread softened butter lightly on bottom and top halves of 4 hamburger buns, rolls, or bread slices. Top each half with a slice of cheese. On the 4 bottom halves, over the cheese, add 1/2 cup baked beans, 1 slice of onion, and 1 Tablespoon bacon pieces or crumbled bacon.

Place top and bottom halves or slices on a baking sheet and heat in oven at 300 degrees F for 5 minutes, or until cheese is slightly melted. Remove from oven.

Add lettuce leaves and tomato slices, if desired and place top half of sandwich over bottom half. Serve immediately and enjoy! NOTE: Eating this can get a little messy, so be sure to have some forks handy…you’ll probably start out eating these sandwiches with your hands, but you’ll need to finish them off with a fork since those beans tend to slide out of the sandwich! You could try mashing the beans a little so they’ll stay in the sandwich better.

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Have you ever had a baked bean sandwich? What do you like to put on yours?