Have you ever tried Habichuelas con dulce (sweet beans)? Be prepared to be pleasantly surprised by this fantastic and uniquely Dominican sweet cream of beans. While a strange combination of dessert ingredients, Dominicans love this Lent tradition. And you may, too!
By - Reviewed: . Original: Jan 3, 2003
Why we ❤️ it
For some foreigners, habichuelas con dulce might be the answer to the question, "What's the most unusual sweet you've ever eaten?" but we Dominicans love it and never seem to have enough of it.
This sweet cream of beans is an essential part of our culinary DNA and the flagship dish of the Dominican Lenten season.
Habichuelas con dulce and ingredients.
Versions
Amongst the many versions of Habichuelas con dulce found in Dominican homes, we can also find an Habas con Dulce version (Sweet cream of butter beans), which seems very popular in the Southwest, as well as the habichuelas blancas (navy beans) version which some people seem to favor. And for extra strangeness, there is guandules (pigeon peas) con dulce! This dish is a traditional cocolo dish and is not widely spread.
There are also many combinations of spices, most commonly cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Other people may add one or a combination of ginger, star anise, cardamom, allspice, etc. Read the comments, and you will see how many different touches our readers have added to it.
History
Unlike most of our dishes, there isn't an equivalent in other countries that we've found (although bean-based desserts are known in some countries).
In short, we have no definitive answer yet, but you can see where Aunt Ilana's investigation led us about the origin and history of habichuelas con dulce. It's a very interesting read.
Habichuelas con dulce and ingredients.
Diet versions
Because I grew up with a diabetic mother, and have been around an assortment of picky eaters and people with unusual diets, I've tested many versions, and I share them with you.
Dairy-free
If you're lactose intolerant, you can use lactose-free milk, which I prefer.
Vegan
You can use almond, rice or soy milk instead of dairy milk. Toast the cassava bread (casabe) with the vegetable oil of your preference. The traditional cookies are not vegan.
Low-cal
Use 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.
Low-Carb, and diabetics
My mom, a diabetic, made hers with Splenda / sucralose, and they tasted just fine. Use the sweetener of your choice instead of sugar. Just cook everything without the sugar and add the sweetener as the last step, as some sweeteners do not do well heated, and it's hard to gauge how much you'll need to add in the end.
Heartburn
If, like many people, you get heartburn from eating batata (Dominican sweet potato), don't sweat it; just don't add them.
Keto or LCHF
This is not a keto or LCHF-friendly dish, even without sugar.
Top tips
- Habas con dulce: Follow the same instructions, but replace the beans with fava beans. These usually have a little grated fresh ginger.
- Other spices: There are many other spices that can be added to the beans, some popular ones are nutmeg, cardamom, ginger, star anise and malagueta.
- Cracker substitutes: If you can't find the classic crackers, any other milk crackers (such as Animal Crackers [Amazon affiliate link]) work just fine. They have the same taste and texture, but different shapes.
- Canned beans: You can use canned beans, though we traditionally boiled dry beans for this dish. If you use canned beans, you'll need to add extra water as there isn't enough in the can for step one.
- Blending: Blending the beans is the quickest way to extract the bean pulp. However, I find that the skin is the most undigestible part of the beans and maybe the main cause of some people's post-habichuelas "problems." I have found that crushing the beans, mixing them with some water, and straining them while pressing to extract the pulp leaves almost all the skin behind and makes for a more pleasant experience (though lighter-color beans). I'll leave it to you to try.
- Storing: Kept in the refrigerator, habichuelas will last 2-3 days. It will start to ferment after that. You can freeze it for a couple of months and thaw it in the fridge for 24 hours.
About our recipe
It shouldn't need to be said, but I'd be remiss if I didn't: 11 million Dominicans can't agree on the same recipe for Habichuelas con Dulce, a theme already touched in our literature almost a hundred years ago.
"But the favorite Lenten dish is "frijoles con dulce," a must on Ash Wednesday, Friday of Sorrows, and Good Friday.
There are homes in which no other meal is had on those days. As is the habit, the delicious delicacy is shared with the neighborhood, and sometimes there are more than ten small bowls from different houses on the table with the same food. And to all the dishes, all the diners help themselves to.
And nothing can be heard, except the impertinent clamor of children: 'Auntie's beans!' 'Godmother's!' 'Mrs. Juana's!' And the table gets interesting. Some beans are whiter: the ones with more milk. Others have a total absence of whole beans, and show greedy eyes the rich, enticing purple cream. Others have tiny oval cookies floating adrift, like skiffs in a cardinal sea." [1]
This is my family version, the one I grew up with. Please let us know in the comments how your family makes it. We love learning about our readers' family traditions.
If you want to try something fun, I have a recipe for habichuelas con dulce popsicles.
Video
Recipe
This awesome free recipe contains Amazon affiliate links, we receive a small commission from any purchase you make at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!
Habichuelas con Dulce [Video+Recipe] Sweet Cream of Beans
Ingredients
- 4 cups boiled red kidney beans, (or cranberry or pinto beans)
- 6 cup water, from boiling the beans (add tap water if you use canned beans)
- 2 cup coconut milk
- 3 cup evaporated milk
- ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 cup sugar (white, granulated)
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 10 cloves
- ½ pound batata (sweet potato), [0.24 kg], cut into small cubes
- ½ cup raisins
To garnish
- 8 pieces casabe, (cassava bread), may be omitted
- 2 teaspoons salted butter, may be omitted
- 1 cup milk cookies, (see notes)
Instructions
1. Blending
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.
2. Boiling
- Pour the beans, coconut milk, evaporated milk, salt, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, and sweet potatoes into a pot.Simmer over very low heat until the sweet potatoes are cooked through. Stir regularly to avoid sticking.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).
3. Chilling
- Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature. Chill before serving.
4. Toasting casabe
- Spread butter on the cassava bread and toast in the oven until it turns golden brown.
5. Serve
- Serve the beans with the cassava on the side. Put cookies in the beans when you serve.
Cook's Notes
Cookie substitute
No milk cookies? Use Animal Crackers (Amazon affiliate link). They are nearly identical in taste and texture to the traditional ones, only in different shapes.Nutrition
Nutritional information is calculated automatically based on ingredients listed. Please consult your doctor if you need precise nutrition information.
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More beans recipes
Habichuelas (beans) are a staple of Dominican cooking, and we have a lot of bean recipes that we love. Habichuelas guisadas (Dominican stewed beans) and moro de habichuelas (rice and beans) are probably the most popular.
References
- Jimenez, Ramón Emilio (1927) Al Amor del Bohío: Tradiciones y Costumbres Dominicanas. (P. 291-292) Santo Domingo: V. Montalvo, Ed. (My translation)
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