Cannabis baked goods recipes: the short answer

Cannabis baked goods recipes work when you control three variables: decarboxylation, fat infusion, and dose per serving. Heat converts THCA into THC. A fat such as butter or oil pulls THC into a form your body absorbs. Math tells you how much THC lands in each cookie, brownie, or muffin. Skip any of the three and you get weak, uneven, or unpredictable edibles.

How to Dose Cannabis Baked Goods: A Practical mg Guide

Prerequisites

  • Legal cannabis flower or concentrate from a licensed dispensary
  • Oven thermometer (home ovens run hot or cold)
  • Unsalted butter or neutral oil such as coconut or grapeseed
  • Cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer
  • Kitchen scale that reads 0.1 g
  • Calculator for dose math
  • Airtight container and labels

How to make cannabis baked goods: step by step

  1. Heat the oven to 240°F.
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  3. Break cannabis flower into small pieces.
  4. Spread the flower in a single layer on the sheet.
  5. Bake the flower for 20 minutes.
  6. Stir the flower.
  7. Bake for 20 more minutes. This decarboxylates THCA into THC.
  8. Cool the flower to room temperature.
  9. Grind the flower to a coarse powder.
  10. Melt 1 cup unsalted butter in a saucepan over low heat.
  11. Add the ground flower to the butter.
  12. Add 1 cup water and stir.
  13. Hold the mixture at 160°F to 180°F for 2 hours.
  14. Stir the mixture every 20 minutes.
  15. Strain the mixture through cheesecloth into a bowl.
  16. Squeeze the cloth to recover all butter.
  17. Chill the bowl until the butter solidifies.
  18. Drain the water from under the butter.
  19. Weigh the finished cannabutter.
  20. Calculate total THC: grams of flower × 1000 × THC percentage × 0.88.
  21. Divide total THC by the number of servings.
  22. Whisk the dry ingredients in one bowl.
  23. Mix eggs, vanilla, and cannabutter in a second bowl.
  24. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
  25. Scoop equal portions of dough onto a lined sheet.
  26. Bake at 325°F or lower.
  27. Cool the baked goods on a wire rack for 20 minutes.
  28. Label each container with total mg THC, serving size, and date.

Dose math example

Suppose you use 7 grams of flower at 20% THC. Total THC = 7 × 1000 × 0.20 × 0.88 = 1,232 mg. If your recipe makes 24 cookies, each cookie carries about 51 mg. That is a high dose for most people. Cut the flower to 1 gram for about 7 mg per cookie, or cut the cookies into quarters. A standard starting dose for a new consumer is 2.5 mg to 5 mg.

Marijuana Baking Cookbook

Recipe ratios for common baked goods

  • Brownies: 1/2 cup cannabutter per 8x8 pan, cut into 16 pieces
  • Chocolate chip cookies: 1/2 cup cannabutter per 24 cookies
  • Banana bread: 1/3 cup cannabutter per 10 slices
  • Shortbread: 3/4 cup cannabutter per 24 small cookies

Match the cannabutter to the fat your recipe already calls for. Do not add extra fat. Extra fat changes texture and dilutes the dose across more servings.

Cannabis Infused Bread: A Buying Guide for Edible Loaves

Bake temperature and THC loss

THC begins to volatilize near 315°F. Baked goods rarely reach that internal temperature, but the oven air does. Set the oven to 325°F or below. Shorter bakes at lower heat preserve more THC. If a recipe demands 375°F, use a water bath or drop the temperature and extend the time by 10 percent.

cannabis infused bread

Storage and safety

Store cannabis baked goods in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or freeze for up to 6 months. Label everything. Keep edibles away from children and pets. Wait at least 2 hours before taking a second dose. Do not drive after eating cannabis. Effects from edibles last 4 to 8 hours and can peak later than expected.