I took another stab at making baked beans from scratch.  This recipe looked like it would fit the bill.  I wanted to do it in the crockpot so the directions won’t jibe, just put it all in the pot and turn it on high.  I left out the ground beef and cut the molasses to a tablespoon – I did add a drizzle of maple syrup to this one. This is after 6 or 8 hours.  The last few hours I left the spoon in under the cover so it would reduce and thicken.  I may leave out the molasses entirely the next time because I could still taste it in the beans.