Habichuelas con Dulce (Dominican Sweet Beans) is a Dominican dessert served for Easter made with beans and other aromatic ingredients that is just delicious!
This Habichuelas con Dulce Recipe or Habichuelas con Dulce Dominicanas, will soon become a favorite Latin dessert in your home!
Making a dessert out of beans, may seem completely unfathomable to some. However, give this dessert a chance, I promise, it’s delicious and will truly surprise you!
Two Varieties
This shockingly delicious dessert can be made two ways.
One is made with dry beans, evaporated milk, condensed milk, sugar, butter, vanilla extract and aromatic flavors.
The other version is made with all the same ingredients with the added ingredient of coconut milk.
This recipe is going to be the one using coconut milk because it is my family’s favorite.
Galletas de Habichuela con Dulce
“Galletas de Habichuela con Dulce” are milk cookies that are topped on top of this fabulous dessert.
These cookies, often called, “Jesus Cookies” because they have a “cross on top” taste a lot like animal crackers.
If you live near a Hispanic neighborhood, finding these cookies, will not be a problem for you.
Otherwise, you can substitute these cookies with Animal Crackers!
Ingredients
- dry beans (small red beans, roman or kidney beans)
- evaporated milk
- light brown sugar
- condensed milk
- coconut milk
- cinnamon sticks
- whole cloves
- pinch of nutmeg
- unsalted butter
- salt
- Caribbean sweet potato
- vanilla extract
- raisins
- Galletas de Leche or animal crackers
Habichuelas con Dulce Recipe
- Pour dry beans into a bowl and sift through beans. Discard any “rock or debris” that may be in dry beans.
- Rinse the dry beans under cool water and drain.
Cooking the Beans
You can either pressure cook the beans or cook them on the stovetop.
Using an Instant Pot
- Add the beans to the pot with enough water to cover plus more that the water is about three inches above the beans.
- Place lid on Instant Pot and place valve on “seal.”
- Cook on High Pressure for 50 minutes.
- When instant pot beeps, allow to do natural release or wait about 20 minutes before doing a quick release.
Check the recipe box below the post for cooking instructions using a regular Pressure Cooker or Stovetop Cooking.
- Add half of the beans from the pot with some of the water they have cooked in, plus half a can of evaporated milk to a blender. Blend until the beans are very smooth.
- Pour the blended beans into a large bowl.
- Repeat the process with the rest of the cooked beans. Add to the blender with some of the water and the rest of the milk. Blend again until the beans are very smooth.
- Using a colander and a large pot, strain the bean mixture to catch any skin left from beans and create a smooth mixture.
- Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a low simmer and stir.
- Add the other can of the evaporated milk plus the coconut milk, and stir again.
- Add the condensed milk and stir.
- Add the brown sugar and stir.
- Add the cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, and whole cloves. Stir again.
- Cook the mixture for 20 minutes stirring every few minutes in between. (It is important to stir the mixture every few minutes or the sugar will start to caramelize and burn the bottom of the pot.)
- Add the butter, vanilla extract, salt and raisins. Stir.
- Skin and cut the Caribbean sweet potato (batata) into 1-inch cubes. Rinse under cool water.
- Add the batata to the mixture, stir and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until the batata is fork tender. Stir mixture in between cooking.
Serving the Habichuelas con Dulce
Allow the mixture to cool for a few minutes and carefully strain again to get rid of cloves and cinnamon sticks.
Add the raisins back into the mixture.
Note: Some people do not bother straining out the whole cloves. However, accidentally biting into a whole clove is a bit unpleasant as they have a really strong flavor.
The habichuelas con dulce are ready to serve.
Serving Hot or Cold
This dessert can be served either hot or cold.
Some people prefer having it immediately after cooking while others prefer to chill the dessert in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving.
To figure out which way you prefer having it, try both.
Have some right away after cooking and have some after it has chilled in the refrigerator for a little while.
Serve this delicious dessert in small bowls and top with the Galletas con Leche or animal crackers.
Other Holiday Desserts
Although the desserts below are enjoyed throughout the whole year. Some of these popular desserts are always prepared for certain holidays such as Thanksgivings, Christmas, New Years Day and Three Kings Day.
Flan de Coco (Coconut Flan)
Arroz con Dulce (Rice Pudding)
Budin de Pan (Bread Pudding)
Tembleque de Coco (Coconut Pudding)
Flan de Calabaza (Pumpkin Flan)
Flan de Vainilla (Vanilla Flan)
Of course we never need a holiday to enjoy any Latin dessert.
📖 Recipe
Habichuelas con Dulce (Dominican Sweet Beans)
Equipment
- 1 large pot for cooking dessert
- pressure cooker or Instant Pot to cook the dry beans but not necessary
Ingredients
- 1 lb dry small red beans can also use Roman or kidney beans
- 2 cans evaporated milk
- 1 13 oz can condensed milk
- 1 13.5 oz can coconut milk
- 1½ cups light brown sugar
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 8 whole cloves
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 lb Caribbean sweet potato (optional to add) skin and cut into 1-inch chunks (Note: Although this step is traditional, it is optional. If you cannot find Caribbean sweet potato (batata), this dessert is still excellent without it.)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup raisins or to your liking optional
- Galletas de Leche or Animal Crackers
Instructions
Preparing the Beans for Cooking
- Pour dry beans into a bowl and sift through the beans. Discard any "rock or debris" that you may find in dry beans.
- Rinse the dry beans under cool water and drain.
Cooking the Beans in an Instant Pot
- Add the beans to the pot with enough water to cover plus more that the water is about three inches above the beans.
- Place lid on Instant Pot and place the valve on the “seal” setting. Cook on High Pressure for 50 minutes.
- When the instant pot beeps, allow it to do a natural release or wait about 20 minutes before doing a quick release.
For a Regular Pressure Cooker
- Add the beans and cover with about 1 1/2 inches of hot water over the level of the beans.Note: Be sure to not fill the cooker over halfway.Cook for 45 minutes. Turn off stove.
- Allow pressure to release before opening the lid.
Stovetop Instructions
- Add the beans to the pot with enough water to cover plus more that the water is about three inches above the beans.
- Cook beans semi-covered with a lid over medium heat for 2 hours or until fully tender.
Making the Habichuelas con Dulce
- Add half of the beans from the pot with some of the water they have cooked in, plus half a can of evaporated milk to a blender. Blend until the beans are very smooth. Pour the blended beans into a large bowl.
- Repeat the process with the rest of the cooked beans. Adding a little bit more of the water they have cooked in plus the rest of what's left of the evaporated milk. Blend again until the beans are very smooth.
- Using a colander and a large pot, strain the bean mixture to catch any skin left from the beans to create a smooth mixture.
- Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a low simmer and stir.
- Add the other can of evaporated milk plus the coconut milk, and stir again.
- Add the condensed milk and stir.
- Add the brown sugar and stir.
- Add the cinnamon sticks, nutmeg and whole cloves. Stir again.
- Cook the mixture for 20 minutes stirring every few minutes in between. Note: It is important to stir the mixture every few minutes or the sugar will start to caramelize and burn the bottom of the pot.
- Add the butter, vanilla extract, salt and raisins. Stir.
- If adding the sweet potato (batata), first skin and cut into 1-inch cubes. Rinse and drain them.
- Add the batata to the mixture, stir and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until tender, stirring the mixture in between cooking.
Serving
- Allow the mixture to cool for a few minutes and carefully strain again to get rid of cloves and cinnamon sticks.Add the raisins back into the mixture.Note: Some people do not bother straining out the whole cloves. However, accidentally biting into a whole clove is a bit unpleasant as they have a really strong flavor.
- The habichuelas con dulce are ready to serve.
Serve Hot or Cold
- This dessert can be served hot or cold.To serve hot, serve dessert immediately after cooking.To serve it cold, allow the mixture to cool some and then chill for a few hours in the refrigerator.
- Serve in small bowls and top with the Galletas con Leche or animal crackers.
Nutrition
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