Dominican Sweet Beans

Dominican Sweet Beans

From Dominican Republic

This is the traditional Easter desert in the Dominican Republic referred to as Habichuelas con Dulce. This sweet cream can be served warm or chilled but is typically topped with sweet mini-crackers called cien en boca meaning 100 in the mouth. Not sure if 100 would really fit in your mouth but you get the idea.
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
1.6 hrs
Course: Dessert 
Cuisine: Dominican 
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 553 kcal
Ingredients
  • 4 cups soft-boiled red kidney beans (or cranberry or pinto beans)
  • 6 cups water from boiling the beans
  • 2 cups coconut milk
  • 3 cups evaporated milk
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 10 cloves
  • 1/2 lb sweet potatoes (batata) [0.24 kg], cut into small cubes
  • 1/2 cup raisins
To garnish
  • 8 pieces cassava bread (casabe), may be omitted
  • 1 cup milk cookies (see notes)
  • 2 tsp butter (salted)
Instructions

  1. Put the beans (and the water in which they boiled) in a blender and puree. Strain the beans to get rid of the skins and undissolved solids. Pour the beans, coconut milk, evaporated milk, salt, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves and sweet potatoes and simmer over low heat until the sweet potatoes are cooked through. Stir regularly to avoid sticking.

  2. Add the raisins and simmer for another 10 minutes (don’t worry that it may look too thin, the cream of beans will get much thicker when chilled). Remove the cinnamon sticks (and cloves, if you like). Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature. Chill before serving.

  3. Spread butter on the cassava bread and toast in the oven until it turns golden brown.

  4. Serve the beans with the cassava on the side. Put cookies in the beans when you serve.

Notes & Nutrition Facts

These are some ideas for modifying habichuelas con dulce to adapt them to different diets: You can use almond, rice or soy milk if you are lactose intolerant or vegan, and skim milk if you are counting calories. You can use your sweetener of choice instead of sugar. Just cook everything without the sugar and add the sweetener as the last step.

No milk cookies? Use Animal Crackers. They are the same, only in different shapes.