Edibles are the perfect mashup of two of the greatest things in the world: food and weed. It’s a snack that gets you high. What’s not to love? While there are plenty of excellent premade edibles to snack on (in very small quantities), nothing beats the taste of something homegrown and homemade. If you know your way around the mixing bowl and the bong bowl, take a crack at some of our favorite recipes for edibles.
What is an edible?
An edible is pot that you eat. Rather than smoking your cannabis, you allow the THC to enter your body through your digestive system. It’s a very different experience from smoking weed, and you shouldn’t expect the same kind of high from a pot brownie that you’d get from a joint.
How do edibles work?
Edibles take a while to kick in. It’s not unusual for two hours to pass before you really feel the effects of the THC. Once you start to feel the effects, they’ll begin to build. You don’t know exactly how high you’re going to get or the way you’ll feel until the edibles peak. You can feel the effects for anywhere between six and eight hours.
If you’re using edibles, be mindful of your dosage. It’s very easy to overconsume edibles because they taste good and take so long to work. Plan to stay where you are for the rest of the day. Edibles are more of an at-home treat than a night-out treat.
The general rule with edibles is that it’s better to err on the side of caution and eat too little than it is to eat too much. If your high from edibles isn’t quite as intense as you’d like it to be at the four to six-hour mark, you can always smoke more weed. If the high is too intense, you already bought the ticket and you have to take the ride. Less is always more.
It all starts with cannabutter
Cannabutter is an extremely versatile recipe because it can be used for anything that requires butter. Cookies, cakes, and brownies are the most common applications for cannabutter, but technically, you can do absolutely anything with the stuff. It’s a little weird to think of mixing it with garlic and herbs and using it to pan roast swordfish, but it’s still an option.
To make cannabutter, you’ll need 1 cup of normal butter. That’s two sticks if you buy your butter in a box. You’ll need about 8 grams of decarboxylated weed. If you don’t know how to decarboxylate your cannabis, we have a guide here.
Grind your decarbed weed and set it aside. The grind doesn’t have to be too fine. Just a few twists on the grinder will do. Then, put the butter in your slow cooker on low. If you have a temperature setting, make sure it’s somewhere between 160 degrees and 180 degrees.
Butter melts very quickly and burns at high temperatures. Keep the slow on the lowest possible setting and be very patient. When the butter turns to liquid, add your weed.
Let the butter simmer for at least two hours, checking the temperature. You don’t want the temperature to exceed 200 degrees. Don’t let it boil. Stir it every 20 minutes and stick a thermometer into the slow cooker to assure the temperature stays where you need it. If it starts to get a little too hot, turn the heat off and open the lid for a minute or two. After about three hours, your cannabutter should be ready. Let it cool for about 30 minutes.
Line a large mason jar with cheesecloth, leaving the edges above the rim. Use a ladle to slowly pour the mixture from the slow cooker on top of the cheesecloth, allowing it to slowly strain itself. Be patient and don’t squeeze the cheesecloth. Just let it drip.
When all the butter has passed through the cheesecloth and the cannabis pieces remain on top, remove the cloth. You obviously cannot smoke that buttery weed, so safely dispose of it. Put the lid on the jar and refrigerate it for a few hours until it becomes solid again.
The dosage of cannabutter
In order to properly dose cannabutter, you need to know the THC content of the weed you started with. One gram is 1000 mg. If you used cannabis that’s 25% THC, which means that it contains 250 mg of THC. If you used 8 grams of that weed to make your cannabutter, that means the whole cup of cannabutter contains 2,000 mg of THC.
One cup of butter is 16 tablespoons, so one tablespoon of cannabutter contains 125 mg. If you incorporate that cannabutter into a dozen cookies and blend it thoroughly, each cookie should contain about 10.4 mg THC. If that’s too much for you, use less cannabis or a lower THC strain to make your cannabutter.
1. Cannabis ice cream
Here’s your excuse to finally use or buy that ice cream maker! Combine 2 cups of heavy cream with 2 cups of half and half, 1 cup of sugar, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, and your melted cannabutter. Use whatever amount you deem fit for about four generous servings of ice cream.
Then, add in your flavors. You can toss in some chocolate chips and preserved cherries for a Cherry Garcia vibe. You can add cocoa powder for something chocolatey, and toss in some mint for a mint chocolate chip flavor. You can slice up some strawberries and add them to the mix. You can even put bacon and caramel in it. It’s your weed ice cream. Live your best life.
Turn on the ice cream maker and allow to run according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When it’s done, cover the bowl and pop it in the freezer overnight.
2. No-bake almond butter weed bars
These no-bake almond butter weed bars are really good. In fact, they might be a little too good. Make sure everyone knows how to indulge safely because they’ll want to eat more than one of these.
Start by lining an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper. This will make it easy to cut and serve the weed bars when they’re ready.
In a large bowl, mix 2 cups of powdered sugar, 1 cup of graham cracker crumbs, ½ cup of melted cannabutter, and a small pinch of salt. Blend them until they’re thoroughly combined. They should be a little crumbly. Then, add a cup of almond butter and mix well one more time.
Press the mixture down into the sheet pan lined with parchment paper. A spatula can help you flatten the top. It probably won’t be perfectly smooth, but that’s fine. You’re just going to cover it with chocolate anyway.
Once your mixture is evenly pressed down, melt 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave them for 20 seconds at a time, checking between sessions. As soon as they’re pourable, they’re ready to go. Evenly pour the melted chocolate chips over the top of the peanut butter bars. If you want, now is a great time to toss on some extra crushed almonds and toasted coconut.
Place the bars in the refrigerator for about two hours. They’ll firm up and be easy to cut and serve.
3. Wake and bake waffles
It’s quick, simple, and delicious to make wake and bake waffles. All you need to do is prepare waffles from the waffle mix according to the package instructions. Put them in the waffle maker and wait for them to get golden and crispy. As soon as you take them out, put a very small pat of cannabutter on top and allow it to melt into the waffle.
You can finish the waffles off with syrup, or you can take things one step further. If you want the ultimate stoner breakfast, scramble a couple of eggs and fry up some bacon. Use two cannabutter-infused waffles to make a bacon and egg sandwich. Cheese is optional but always appreciated.
The takeaway
Everything’s better with cannabutter. As long as you have a batch of cannabutter in your fridge, you can make any recipe that calls for butter an edible. Just be mindful of your portion sizes of cannabutter. You might want to use cannabutter in conjunction with normal butter if the recipe calls for a significant amount.
If you’re ready to get cooking, Emjay can deliver you the weed you need to make your cannabutter. Take out your slow cooker and some recipe books. By the time you’re done figuring out what you want to make, we’ll be at your door with your cannabis.
