Begin by rinsing the fresh green beans off under cold running water. This is necessary to do because sometimes faded green bean flowers, dirt or bugs are stuck to the outside of the bean.
Once the green beans are clean, snap off both ends. Some people prefer not to do this, but I like to. The decision is yours. Just make sure no stems remain on the beans.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
The next step is to gather five to eight green beans into a bunch.
Wrap the bacon around the green bean bundle one time making sure to slightly overlap the bacon ends.
I used kitchen shears to cut the bacon at this point. I was able to wrap three bundles of green beans using one slice of bacon.
Lay the bacon bundles in a baking pan that has edges with the bacon ends facing the bottom of the pan.
If you wish, you can lay extra slices or chunks of bacon over the top of the green bean bundles at this point.
Melt one stick of butter – or if you are using homemade butter, melt 1/2 cup of butter. Be sure to measure it unmelted.
Pour the melted butter over the top of the green bean bundles.
Drizzle maple syrup over the top of the green beans. The maple syrup does sweeten the green beans and next time I am going to try this recipe without using the maple syrup.
Sprinkle salt, pepper or your other preferred seasonings on top of the green bean bundles.
Place the green bean bundles into the pre-heated oven. Do not put a lid or foil over them.
Cook for 30 minutes.
Turn the oven up to 400 degrees F and cook for 10 to 15 minutes longer. This will crisp the bacon and make it edible.