My Dominican Food Blog

Whenever I cook habichuelas con dulce (or sweet creamed beans), I always remember how much I enjoyed sharing this dominican food with family and friends. In Dominican Republic, it's a tradition at Easter to share sweet creamed beans with almost everybody.

I remember that Mami (my Mom) used to cook (and she still does) a very big pot of sweet creamed beans and shared it with all my family and neighbors. We also tasted the beans that our neighbors cooked. It is like an exchange, you eat mine and I eat yours. But it's so much fun!


Ingredients:

- 1 lb packaged red beans
- 1 cup water divided into 2 parts
- 1 1/2 can evaporated milk
- 1/2 can coconut milk
- 1/2 can condensed milk
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 4 or 5 small cinnamon sticks
- 8 sweet cloves
- 1/2 tablespoon salt
- 1/2 cup sugar + 1 to 3 tablespoons more (in case you need them)
- 1 lb sweet potatoes or batata, in spanish, cut into small cubes (optional)
- 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
- Small milk cookies to decorate (optional)

Directions:

A tip that I learned from Mami is to put my beans in water since the night before. That way they are soft and tender at cooking time.

Boil the beans in a pot on medium high heat with enough water until they are completely soft. Add water if they dry while cooking. Remove from the heat and let them cool down.

Pour half of the beans with their liquid into the blender. Add 1/2 cup water and blend (look how I blended my beans in the picture).

When finished, strain them and throw the residues to the garbage. Now repeat these steps with the remaining beans.

After straining, they are gonna be nice and smooth like mine in the picture below. One of the most important tips to remember when cooking habichuelas con dulce or sweet creamed beans is to use a stainless steel pot or a pot with a thick bottom to avoid smoky flavor.

Cook the beans on medium heat and add the rest of the ingredients in the same order of the list, except the raisins and the cookies. Me and my Kiara like our sweet creamed beans without raisins or cookies. They are optional, so if you like them, go ahead and add them at serving time.

Stir your beans well while you're adding the ingredients to avoid any sticking. Besides it helps to maintain their creamy texture. Check the color and how creamy my beans look like in the picture after I added my ingredients.

After adding the 1/2 cup of sugar stir for 30 seconds and taste with a clean tablespoon. If they are sweet enough for you, don't add anymore sugar. But if not, carefully add 1, 2 or 3 tablespoons of sugar and stir. The important matter is that your habichuelas con dulce don't taste too sweet.
Cook stirring constantly for 20 minutes or until they slightly thickened and the sweet potatoe are  soft. Turn off the heat and let cool down for a few minutes. Now you can serve your delicious sweet creamed beans.

If you are using raisins and milk cookies, serve them in a small plate next to the habichuelas con dulce. They look nicer and if there's somebody in your family or friends who doesn't like raisins and milk cookies in the sweet creamed beans (like me and Kiarita), they have the option of enjoy all separately.

Do you want to know another tip? I love to eat them cold from the fridge. The flavor is more concentrated and the taste is a lot more delicious.

Go to my Dominican Food Homepage.