Everyone’s heard of the pot brownie.
But were you aware that you can actually make any baked good with cannabis? Let’s break down everything you need to know.
Why do people make cannabis brownies?
Gooey and thick, the brownie’s heavy chocolate flavor helps mask the earthy cannabis taste. That’s why so many home cooks like making infused brownies. What’s more, chocolate and cocoa power are thought to enhance cannabis, perhaps because they contain small quantities of an endocannabinoid called anandamide. [1,2]
Now that cannabis is legal in so many states, cannabis baking methods have been refined. Walk into a dispensary, and it’s not unusual to see cannabis-infused donuts, cakes, eclairs, and more lining the shelves. Real chefs and talented extraction experts are working together to create restaurant-quality baked goods with no cannabis flavor.
How do you bake with cannabis?
The easiest way to bake with cannabis is to use an infused oil or butter. If you want to make cannabis treats at home, you can make the oil yourself or purchase it at a dispensary, if possible.
Creating the oil is simple. The process relies on decarboxylation. First, you heat cannabis biomass like shake, flower, kief, etc. in the oil you want to use. If you haven’t tried this method for yourself, one study suggests 110°C (230°F) for 40 min. [3] The heat converts tetrahydrocannabinolic acid into delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). As this happens, the THC will extract and dissolve into the oil. The oil should to be strained so leftover plant material is removed.
Now, you’re left with cannabis-infused oil that you can use in any recipe that calls for oil. If you made a compound butter, it will re-solidify when cooled. The same goes for infusing coconut oil.
Amateur baking efforts are often less successful because the oil is improperly strained, leading to gritty bits of flower leftover in the baked goods.
Tips for baking with cannabis
When you bake with cannabis, it’s easy to overindulge. Many recipes call for an equal amount of ground cannabis and oil, for example, one cup each. You can add more cannabis, but you have to be careful not to overdo it. It’ll be hard to know how much THC you’re consuming when you have a cookie in your hand instead of flower.
References
[1] James JS. Marijuana and chocolate. AIDS Treat News. 1996;(No 257):3-4. [journal impact factor = N/A; times cited = 6]
[2] di Tomaso E, Beltramo M, Piomelli D. Brain cannabinoids in chocolate. Nature. 1996;382(6593):677-678. [journal impact factor = 54.637; times cited = 173]
[3] Wang M, Wang YH, Avula B, et al. Decarboxylation study of acidic cannabinoids: A novel approach using ultra-high-performance supercritical fluid chromatography/photodiode array-mass spectrometry. Cannabis Cannabinoid Res. 2016;1(1):262-271. [journal impact factor = N/A; times cited = 93]
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