5 Amazing Cannabis Recipes

As the legalization of cannabis continues to reach more and more countries, our relationship with the herb thrives and evolves — and so does the cannabis culinary culture. In places where cannabis is legal, people cook openly with the plant. You can buy cannabis-infused butter and oils at dispensaries. Or, you can prepare your own, which is what we’re going to show you in this article. But before we explore the amazing world of cannabis recipes, let’s elaborate on the perks of cooking with the herb.

6 Reasons for Making Cannabis Edibles

Cooking with cannabis requires some time and effort, but the final effect is very rewarding. Here are several benefits of edible weed:

• You don’t have to be a professional cook to follow simple medicated recipes;
• Once you learn how to prepare cannabis edibles, you’ll have a healthier alternative to smoking your stash;
• The high from edibles lasts longer than smoked marijuana. It’s also more relaxing.
• Cooking with marijuana offers great versatility — you can make anything from weed brownies to cookies to soups and hearty main dishes;
• Cooking with weed is sometimes legal where smoking is still prohibited;
• The effects of weed edibles come on slower and are stronger than smoked marijuana.

This is just for starters — we could make a separate article devoted solely to the benefits of edibles. Now, let’s get down to business.

How to Prepare for Cooking with Weed

A decent cook should always be well prepared for his tasks, and making cannabis edibles goes by the same token. If you think that cooking with weed is just about throwing some buds into the pot with your meal during the prep stage and just warming it up, then we must correct you. It’s a bit more complex than that. Here’s what you need to know about cooking with weed before you try to recapture one of the 6 amazing cannabis recipes we’ve got for you.

Step #1: Decarboxylate Your Cannabis

If you want to get baked from your baked goods, you must decarboxylate your weed in the first place. Decarboxylation is a fancy word for activating the THC by removing the extra carbon link from its inactive precursor THCA (tetrahydrocannabinolic acid). Unless you decarboxylate your cannabis, you’ll end up with THCA-infused edibles that offer plenty of health benefits but won’t make you high. To decarboxylate the weed, grind it up and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 240 F and get your ground buds inside. Bake it for 25 minutes to an hour, depending on how much weed you’re using for making edible goods. When choosing your flowers, consider the effects each strain offers. Sativas tend to be more stimulating while indicas are known for their profound relaxation. If you want to curb anxiety and relieve pain, you might want to pick an indica strain. If, on the other hand, your aim is to address fatigue, lack of focus, or mood swings, then a sativa strain may be your bud of choice.

Step #2: Make Cannabutter

Cannabutter is the must-have ingredient for any weed-infused product. While it may look daunting at first glance, cannabutter is extremely easy to make. Here’s the list of necessary ingredients:

• 1 lb. of unsalted butter
• 1 oz. of high-quality ground weed nugs
• 1 cup of water

Below we break down the process of making cannabutter into several simple steps:

1. Place your decarboxylated weed along with the butter in a pot with just one cup of water to make sure you don’t burn the butter.
2. Once the butter melts, stir it for a few times to distribute the weed evenly in the mixture.
3. Keep the pot on a low simmer for 3 to 6 hours. If the butter starts to burn, add more water.
4. Let the mixture cool enough to handle a strainer and sieve out the plant material — the THC is now inside the butter.
5. Place the strained cannabutter in a storage container and put it in the fridge overnight. This will allow the butter to harden.
6. Remove the hardened butter to separate it from the residual water.
7. Enjoy!

Step #3: Use the Cannabutter for Any Recipe You Desire

As mentioned, you can cook virtually anything with canna butter or canna-oil. All you need to do is follow the instruction of your favorite recipe, playing with the ratio of the regular butter to the cannabutter. Now it’s high time we gave you some amazing cannabis recipes to please your taste buds and your inner munching demon.

5 Amazing Cannabis Recipes

Okay, ladies and gentlemen, let’s see what we have here. Five amazing cannabis recipes. One mouthwatering savory dish. Three tempting desserts. And one exotic beverage, perfect for pairing with strains like Mango Haze or Pineapple. Let’s do some wake and bake first!

1. Classic Weed Brownies

This is one seriously tantalizing pleasure. Once you munch on these ooey-gooey brownies, you won’t be able to stop because they’re both delicious and packed with THC. Let’s see what it takes to enter the muncheption: Ingredients:

• Brownie mix, your favorite brand
• 2 ½ oz water
• 2 ½ oz cannabutter
• Melted Chocolate (whole bar)
• Chocolate candy bar (crushed)
• 2 oz. chocolate chips (dark)
• 2 oz. crushed pecans
• 2 large eggs, beaten

Procedure:

1. Preheat your oven to 330 F.
2. In a bowl, mix eggs with water and your cannabutter.
3. Grease a 9×13 brownie pan.
4. Stir in your brownie mix, pecans, chocolate chips, until blended into a smooth consistency.
5. Transfer the brownie batter into your brownie pan.
6. Bake the brownie for about 40 minutes. Use a toothpick to check if the cake is ready. If it comes out dry, the brownie is good to go.

If you want to make this recipe even more sinful, melt your chocolate in the microwave for about 25 seconds and dip the bottom of your brownies in it. Sprinkle the top of the brownies with crushed chocolate bar pieces to add the final touch of decadence. Sounds good? That was merely a warmup.

2. Pot Cookies

Making weed cookies is a good way to share your marijuana with friends and easily monitor the dosage. When using an ounce of weed to make cannabutter, that makes 28 grams of flower. The capacity of a bowl smoked is 0.3 to 1 gram. So, if you make 28 cookies, each piece will be equivalent to a large bowl. If you have infused your butter with a very potent strain, then you might want to double the number of cookies and bake 56 pieces for smaller dosing. One cookie every two hours should do the job. Here’s what you need to bake pot cookies: Ingredients:

• 2 cups chocolate chips
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cups of sugar
• ½ cups brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extracts
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of cannabutter
• Water

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 370 F.
2. Place your cannabutter in a large mixing bowl and add the vanilla extract along with sugar.
3. In another bowl, mix the flour with salt and baking soda. Stir in the eggs, chocolate chips, brown sugar, and other ingredients, adding just enough water to make a hard, semi-solid dough.
4. Stir in the cannabutter so that your cookie dough becomes easier to handle.
5. Size your cookies by the amount of weed used. 14 cookies is an absolute minimum for this recipe.
6. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

Enough appetizers for now. It’s time to bring the main dish — the ultimate mac’n cheese.

3. Ultimate Mac’n Cheese

This American evergreen recipe just screams for adding some cannabutter into it. Well, let’s make the dream come true. Ingredients:

• ½ pound elbow macaroni or shells
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

For cheese sauce:

• 5 tablespoons cannabutter
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2½ to 3 cups milk, warm
• 4 ounces smoked mozzarella, grated (1 cup)
• 8 ounces medium cheddar, grated (2 cups)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon canola oil, (using canna-oil is optional)
• 2 ounces sharp cheddar, grated (1/2 cup)

For onion rings:

• 1 cup canola oil
• 1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2. Add water, oil, and salt to a large pot.
3. Bring the pot to boil, add the macaroni, and cook for 5-7 minutes. Drain well.
4. Melt the cannabutter in a small saucepan. Then, add the flour and cook, whisking frequently for 5 minutes.
5. Add warm milk and cook for 2 minutes until thickened a bit and with no lumps.
6. Add the cheese, paprika, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
7. Stir in the cooked macaroni. Pour the dish into 6 buttered ramekins.
8. In a small bowl, mix the canola oil with breadcrumbs and sharp cheddar. Sprinkle it on top of the ramekins with mac’n cheese.
9. Bake for 35 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Some of the macaroni elbows might be browned on the top.
10. In a medium saucepan, heat the canola oil. Once hot enough, add the onion rings and fry them for 4-5 minutes until golden brown.
11. Drain the rings on paper towels and top your mac’n cheese with them.
12. Devour!

4. Strawberries Dipped in Canna-chocolate

This recipe combines chocolate with one of the strongest aphrodisiacs on Earth, but here’s the fun part: It only takes 30 minutes to prepare this decadent side dessert. Ingredients:

• 12 strawberries with stems
• 2 tablespoons cannabutter
• 1 ½ cups chocolate chips

Procedure:

1. Place your chocolate chips along with the butter in a medium, microwave-save bowl.
2. Microwave on high for 30 seconds.
3. Remove from the microwave and stir.
4. Continue microwaving and stirring in 20-second intervals until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
5. Let the cannabis-infused chocolate sit until it reaches room temperature.
6. Dip the strawberries in the melted chocolate. Transfer to a cooling rack and let them sit for 30 minutes. You can place them in a refrigerator and let the chocolate shell harden a bit for that extra crunchy feel.

Okay, folks, we’re done with eating. Care for a medicated drink?

5. Weed-infused Thai Iced Tea

Thai iced tea is hands down our favorite summer drink. Partially because it’s so creamy, smooth, and heavenly sweet. But the most exciting part about this beverage is that you can infuse it with weed and create a culinary devil. One simple change, so many new possibilities. Ingredients:

• 6 black (or white if you prefer) tea bags
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon,
• 2 cardamon pods,
• 1 star anise
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups hot water
• ¼ cup honey
• 14 oz. condensed milk
• 5 tablespoons melted cannabutter

Procedure:

1. Place your tea bags with the spices in a pitcher.
2. Pour in 8 cups of boiling water and allow the mixture to steep for 4-5 minutes.
3. Add the honey. Let the tea cool to room temperature.
4. In a small bowl, combine the melted cannabutter with condensed milk.
5. Distribute ice cubes between 6 glasses.
6. Fill each glass two-thirds of the way with the seasoned tea.
7. Finish it off with 2 ounces of the cannabutter-milk mixture.
8. Wait for it to sink to the bottom.
9. Stir and drink.

Conclusion

Cooking with cannabis is fun and simple. Once you master the basics behind preparing weed-infused edibles, you’ll be able to come up with your own, unique recipes that will make your friends wonder “When on earth did he finish a cooking course with Gordon Ramsay?” — and why this food makes them hungry although they’ve already devoured mountains of that mouthwatering mac’n cheese. However, before you enter the green kitchen, make sure you know your THC limits, and above all, don’t try to impress your friends with how much weed you can pack into one brownie. Too much of the edible marijuana can make you feel stoned to the ground, not to mention THC-induced anxiety or paranoia. At the end of the day, making cannabis recipes is about enjoying both the meal and what comes afterward. What are your favorite cannabis recipes?