Recipe: How to make weed brownies

Chances are, the first time you ever ate an edible it was a weed brownie. In fact, when you hear the words “edibles” or “cook your weed,” there’s a good chance pot brownies come to mind. There is simply no cannabis edible more iconic than the simple, reliable pot brownie — no matter how popular THC gummies, mints, or chocolates get. 

It makes sense really. Pot brownies are a cinch to make and the rich chocolate flavor does a good job masking any hint of cannabis. And since it’s a baked dessert, it goes great with a cannabis infused fat like cannabutter. Also, a pan of brownies is perfect for sharing and parceling out the doses as you see fit.

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Why make edibles when you can just smoke weed?

You already have some cannabis and you may be thinking to yourself, you could smoke a joint by the time it takes you to read this article, why bother baking brownies? That’s fair, and each type of cannabis high has its time and place, but there are good reasons people take the time and effort needed to make edibles. 

Mainly, edibles produce a totally different high than smoking cannabis. Edibles are for when you want a fully-immersive experience for the next few (or several) hours. They take about an hour to an hour and a half to kick in, and they produce a strong body high and euphoric feeling that can come on in giggly, couch-locking waves. They might not be an everyday sort of high, but edibles are definitely special. 

In addition to the high, they also don’t require smoking, can be taken discreetly, and are a great option for people who don’t want to mess with joints or bongs, and the like.  

Be careful not to make this edibles mistake

One thing to keep in mind with edibles is that you need to take your time. They can easily take up to an hour and a half or more to kick in, and the less-experienced take this is a sign that says “I’m not feeling anything, I’ll eat another brownie,” and then find themselves on a journey they didn’t sign up for. 

With edibles, start with a low dose and take your time. The next time you’ll know how much works and how well, and just how long you need to wait. 

How to make cannabutter 

Making your own edibles can really take the experience to the next level, and key to this is making a cannabis infusion. 

Cannabinoids, including the stars of the bunch THC and CBD, are fat-soluble, so they must be eaten with fat in order to be broken down in the body. By infusing a fat like butter or coconut oil with THC, you get all that THC goodness and the benefits of the terpenes and flavonoids, can you can save it for whenever you get a hankering for some edibles. 

For baked goods like brownies, nothing hits the spot quite like cannabutter, and it really couldn’t be easier to make: 

1. Decarboxylate your cannabis

You really don’t want to miss this step. Decarboxylation is a process that activates the compounds in cannabis, and converts THCA into THC, allowing the marijuana to produce the intoxicating high you’re probably looking for. All you need to do is grind about a half ounce of cannabis, and set it in the oven for about 30-45 minutes at around 220-245°F (105-120°C), making sure it doesn’t get too hot. 

Check out our step-by-step directions: How to decarboxylate cannabis

2. Mix it together with the butter on the stove

Simmer a cup of water together with a cup of butter until the butter melts. Add in the decarboxylated cannabis and mix well and leave on a low heat -— 160-180°F — for about 2-3 hours, keeping a watchful eye that it doesn’t boil. Take it off the heat and after it cools, strain it  through a cheesecloth into a container. 

There isn’t any ironclad rule about how much cannabis to use, and you can experiment with more or less and stronger or weaker strains.

Recipe: Making weed brownies

An easy, can’t miss recipe is this one by the Washington Post, which uses cannabutter and a host of other rich ingredients. (Also, to be honest, we kinda just like the idea of using America’s paper of record for a pot brownies recipe.) 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

Why not just use store-bought brownie mix?

Home-made, from-scratch desserts are great, but you might not have the time for that. Making pot brownies from a box of brownies really couldn’t be easier. All you need to do is substitute cannabutter for the amount of oil or butter called for in the recipe on the box. 

Don’t take our word for it? Just ask Betty Crocker.

How many pot brownies should you eat?

Everyone’s body is different, and how you respond to edibles has a lot to do with your metabolism, your tolerance, and your experience with edibles. 

The best rule of thumb is “start low and go slow” — cut off a small square of that brownie pan and wait at least an hour and a half and see how you feel. 

If you make the cannabutter recipe above with cannabis that is about 14% THC, then each teaspoon of cannabutter will have about 40mg of THC. This means that if you used 4 tablespoons of said cannabutter in your brownies, then the whole pan should have about 480mg of THC. 

The recipe says it makes about 24 2-inch brownies, so figure that’s 20mg of THC per serving. With the average THC gummy providing about 10mg THC, then a single brownie should do the trick. 

Of course, if you’d like a weaker batch, you could use 3 tablespoons of cannabutter and sub a tablespoon of regular butter in the bowl. Of course, that equation also goes in the other direction if you’re feeling bold. 

The bottom line with pot brownies though: they rarely miss. 

Bon appetit! 

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