Cannabis-Infused Holiday Recipes | The Pass

Don’t let Grandma eat the cookies on top of the fridge; they will send her to outer space. As a company full of what the shirt-tuckers of yesteryear would call “potheads,” you better believe many of us will be making our own personal infused holiday treats for our friends, family, and, of course, ourselves this year. Have you wanted to make your own edibles but don’t know where to start? Well, let’s get into how to elevate your holiday baking this year.

 

How to Infuse Homemade Edibles with Cannabis

While infusing your recipe with THC shouldn’t be difficult, it is not as easy as throwing some loose bud into your food and calling it a day. Perhaps the most important step in creating your very own at-home edibles is decarboxylating or “decarbing” your cannabis flower beforehand. Decarboxylation essentially means you are removing the carbon element from the THCA molecule in a cannabis plant, transforming it into your favorite psychedelic molecule, THC. This happens instantaneously when you spark up your bud to inhale it, but since you aren’t going to light your infused bunt cake on fire to smoke it, you’ll have to achieve this another way — the oven!

To “activate” your bud, spread out your flower on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan. Because it is affordable and the “smoking quality” isn’t a factor in making edibles, many people use shake to infuse their edibles. Go ahead and throw that pan in the oven at 220 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Be aware; don’t crank the temperature to speed up this process. If you apply too much heat to your cannabis, those desirable cannabinoids, including the THC, will burn off and you will have some duds on your oven-mit-clad hands.

Now that you’ve decarbed your bud, it’s time to infuse your butter (or coconut/olive oil for a vegan option). Melt your butter at a low temperature to prevent burning, stirring and keeping a vigilant eye so that it doesn’t boil. A double boiler option would help ensure your butter doesn’t overcook. Once it is completely melted, throw in your decarbed shake and mix it in. Just like the edibles you’re about to consume, low and slow is the name of the game. Let your bud simmer in your butter for about 3 or 4 hours, ensuring it doesn’t boil or burn. Keep the temperature very low, keep an eye on it, and give it the occasional stir, and you should be all right.

Now that your butter is now properly infused, it’s time to strain it. A cheesecloth is going to give you the best straining results, but a fine metal sieve will perform just fine, leaving you with a silky infused-butter without any bud in it.

 

How to Incorporate Your Canna-Butter (Or Oil)

Now the big question is, how do you properly incorporate your butter so you roughly know how much each dose is? Well here’s the thing, we can’t tell you how much is right for you. But we can give you a little math to help you come to your conclusion. It’s important to note, that making your edibles in your oven isn’t an ideal space for exact dosing.

The simplest way to find the maximum amount of THC milligrams in your butter is to multiply the weight of the flower in milligrams by the THC percentage. To find the weight of your flower in milligrams instead of grams, just multiply it by 1,000. So, let’s say you take a half gram of 20% THC flower to make 20 infused brownies. This is how you would calculate the maximum dosage:

• Multiply your grams of flower by 1,000 to find its weight in milligrams
  • .5g  x 1,000 = 500 mg
• Multiply your weight in milligrams by the THC percentage of the flower
  • 500mg x .2 = 100mgs of THC
• Divide your milligrams of THC by how many servings you plan on making
  • 100mg / 20 brownies = 5mgs per brownie

It’s important to note that this is the maximum amount of THC that could be extracted and put into your butter. On average only 60% of cannabinoids are extracted when decarbing in the oven, so your dosage could be nearly cut in half. Again, making your own edibles in your kitchen oven is not an exact science, so we want to prepare you with the most potent potential, rather than tell you that your dosage will be lower only for you to have a bad experience if they turn out more potent than you expected.

To ensure proper dosing, once your butter cools, weigh it into serving sizes. For example,  if you have 100mg of butter, equally separate it into 20 5mg portions or measure and cut evenly, although this tactic will be less accurate. You can also fill molds with your cool butter and refrigerate them to have even little blocks of that sweet, sweet cannabutter.

 

Homemade Edible Recipes

Here’s the great part: you aren’t tied down to any particular recipes! Just substitute in how much cannabutter you want for your ideal high with your non-infused butter, and you can make any delicious treats you want! Want the classic pot brownie? How about some seasonal shortbread cookies? What about the classiest 18-layer French pastry with a name you can’t pronounce but it looked delicious when you saw it on the internet. The world is yours! For vegans looking to substitute their infused olive or coconut oils, you can add your new cannaoil to any dessert you want, or you can infuse salad dressings, slaws, etc.

 

Explore More Edible Options at Our Berkshire Dispensary

The world of homemade edibles opens up a whole new opportunity for you to eat your weed. Remember that it’s not an exact science, so the old adage of starting low and going slow has never been more accurate. Check out some of our shake options if you plan on making any batches of edibles!

 

Although The Pass may provide information regarding the marijuana and marijuana products available from our dispensary, including but not limited to potency, pharmacology, active ingredients, source of cultivation, recommended uses and benefits, and all other descriptions or information, such information should no way be construed as medical advice. All content is provided for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice under any circumstance.