Cannabutter Recipes to Try at Home

Written by Chris Weatherall on Feb 24, 2023

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Why are more enthusiasts seeking cannabutter recipes to try at home? As cannabis use becomes more normalized for adults from all walks of life across the United States and beyond, many folks who don’t enjoy smoking are turning to cannabis edibles. These delicious cannabis treats are an accessible way to experiment with THC, CBD, other cannabinoids, and cannabis-derived terpenes both for therapeutic applications and general relaxation purposes.

Cannabutter Edibles

First, it’s crucial to note that ingesting cannabis edibles requires your body to metabolize the psychoactive compounds before they can interact with your endocannabinoid system (ECS).

This occurs in an entirely different way than smoking or vaping, which relies on allowing the cannabinoids to pass into the bloodstream via the lungs.

Therefore, eating edibles has a few important practical implications:

Because metabolizing THC results in psychoactive byproducts that must then interact with the ECS, the psychoactive “high” from edibles lasts longer than that from smoking (6-12 hours versus 2-3 hours).
Because edibles must be digested first, their effects can take an hour or more to kick in fully, whereas the effects of smoking THC are almost instantaneous.
While the actual effects of smoked versus ingested cannabis are comparable, the experience with edibles is considered “stronger” by most users. This is likely due to the additional psychoactive byproducts produced as the body breaks down THC.

DIY Edibles and Cannabutter

Before we can dive into a batch of brownies, however, we need to make the key ingredient that can be used to create just about any type of edible you can imagine. From cannabis hot wings to cannabis birthday cake, most homemade edible recipes start with cannabutter, or cannabis-infused butter.

Note: For those who need a dairy-free cannabutter alternative for baking and other applications, coconut oil is a preferred substitute. Or, if you’re specifically interested in making cannabis-infused dressings and sauces, you might consider using olive oil.

Preparing a batch of your own cannabutter or cannabis-infused coconut oil will unlock the world of cannabis edibles by giving you access to all sorts of amazing recipes using cannabutter. Just how many recipes, you ask? You’ll be happy to learn that basically any recipe using butter or cooking oil can be infused with THC simply by substituting cannabutter.

What follows are the general steps for making cannabutter. You can also bookmark our detailed step-by-step guide to understand how to determine the strength of your cannabutter for future reference. Also, visit our THC calculator to really dig into the math.

Home Cannabutter Recipes Guide

Here’s a quick overview of our basic cannabutter recipe.

Decarb

Decarbing cannabis will be the first step in making a quality cannabutter. This prepares the cannabinoids for infusion into the butter by using heat to convert them into their active forms. This can be done very effectively in your regular oven.

Preheat your oven to 230 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and break up ½ oz of cannabis in an even layer on its surface.
Bake it at this low temperature for an hour to an hour and a half. If you do additional research, you’ll find opinions vary on exact temperature and time (and even if you need to decarb at all),but 75 minutes at 230 degrees seems to work well for most ovens and most strains of cannabis.

Melt Butter

Next, melt your butter (or coconut oil) in an adequately sized pot. This recipe will assume you are making 1 cup of cannabutter, so simply divide or multiply as needed if you’re making a larger or smaller batch. Melt it slowly; you do not want it to burn at any point.

Add Water

Add 1 cup of water per cup of butter to your fully melted butter. Keep the heat fairly low. The water will help ensure that the cannabutter doesn’t scorch or burn, but you will need to be watchful, as most of the water will be cooked away by the end of the process.

Stir

Stir your ground and decarbed cannabis into the butter and water mixture. A standard cannabutter recipe calls for about 1/2 oz of plant material for each cup of butter, but this can vary quite a bit from user to user and strain to strain.

Simmer

Make sure all the plant material is fully moistened. Then, continue simmering at low to medium-low heat.

Strain

Strain the mixture into a heat-safe vessel of your choice and place your strained cannabutter into the fridge to cool.

Discard

Once cooled, the solidified cannabutter will separate itself from any excess water, which can be discarded.

Enjoy

Enjoy! A super-quick test recipe is to simply enjoy some of your fresh cannabutter on a piece of toast.

What Should You Know About Decarboxylation?

Cannabutter Recipes

Now that you have your first batch of homemade cannabutter, it’s time to put it to use. As we mentioned previously, you can substitute cannabutter for butter or oil in just about any recipe. For some classic sweet treats, however, you can start here with a few of our favorite cannabutter recipes ideas.

Quick Cannabis Snickerdoodle

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The sweet and spicy profile of this classic cookie makes it perfect for pairing with the natural taste of cannabis. If you’re trying to cover up the taste of the cannabis rather than “pair” it with it, try doubling the amount of cinnamon or adding equal amounts of nutmeg and ground cloves.

Prep Time15

Course: Dessert

Servings: 36 Cookies

Ingredients

2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
2 t cream of tartar
2 t ground cinnamon plus 1 Tbsp, separated, for topping
1 t baking soda
1/8 t salt
1 1/2 c sugar plus 1/4 cup, separated, for topping
1 c cannabutter or cannabis-infused coconut oil
2 eggs

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Combine all dry ingredients (except sugar and those reserved for topping) in a mixing bowl.
Combine butter, eggs, and sugar with a mixer.
Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients.
Mix the cinnamon and 1/4 cup sugar reserved for topping in a separate bowl.
Divide dough into approximately 3 dozen balls.
Roll each ball in the cinnamon-sugar mixture until covered.
Place sugared balls 2-3 inches apart on a non-stick cookie sheet.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until done.

Notes

c = cup

t = teaspoon

T = Tablespoon

Classic Cannabis Brownies

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There is no cannabis treat more iconic than the THC-infused brownie. The cannabis brownie has become ubiquitous for two reasons. First, the rich, bold flavors of chocolate are great at covering up the earthy cannabis taste. Second, and most importantly, brownies are delicious!

Prep Time15

Cook Time45

Course: Dessert

Ingredients

1 1/2 c sugar
3/4 c all-purpose flour
2/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 c dark chocolate chips
3/4 t salt
2 eggs
1/2 c cannabutter or cannabis-infused coconut oil
2 T cola or Dr. Pepper
1/2 t vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lightly grease or spray an 8×8” baking pan. Optionally, line it with parchment paper and grease the paper.
Combine both sugars, flour, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and salt in a mixing bowl.
In another mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, cannabutter, soda, and vanilla extract.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients slowly, stirring lightly. Combine the mixtures but do not attempt to make the batter smooth. Do not use an electric mixer.
Pour the batter into your greased pan, spreading evenly with a spoon or spatula if needed.
Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick placed into the center of the pan comes out clean of crumbs and residue.

Notes

c = cup

t = teaspoon

T = Tablespoon

Cannabis Infused Whitefish

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We would be remiss if we didn’t demonstrate the versatility of cannabis in the kitchen by showing you at least one savory cannabis recipe. This recipe pairs well with white wine for a higher-end cannabis dining experience. This is an interesting dish from a culinary standpoint because the herbs and citrus simultaneously tame and elevate the distinctive cannabis flavor, so it can work well with the delicate flavor of fish.

Prep Time25

Cook Time15

Course: Main Course

Servings: 4

Ingredients

About 1 pound medium-sized whitefish fillets
1/2 c cannabutter, melted
Zest from 1 lemon, reserve fruit for juice
Juice from 1 lemon
Additional lemons, sliced thinly
1 t kosher salt, divided into two half-teaspoons
1 T Old Bay seasoning blend, or experiment with garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and other seasonings of your choice
A modest sprinkling of black pepper - freshly ground, if available
3 T olive oil or additional cannabutter
1/8 c fresh chopped basil, or 2 t dried, crushed basil leaves
1/8 c fresh chopped parsley, or 2 t dried parsley flakes

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 420 degrees Fahrenheit.
fillets should be skinless and boned to begin.
Pat your fish fillets completely dry with a paper towel. This would be of extra importance if you started with frozen products. Ensure every fillets is completely thawed before continuing.
Mix the melted butter, lemon juice, lemon zest, and 1/2 t of salt.
In a separate container, mix the remaining 1/2 t salt with your dry seasonings (Old Bay, black pepper, etc.)
Use the dry spice mix as a rub to adequately season each side of each fillets.
Lightly oil the bottom of an adequately large baking dish. You can use more cannabutter if desired.
Layer the sliced lemons on the bottom of the baking dish.
Place the fillets on top of the lemons. Do not overlap any of the fish fillets; cook in multiple batches if necessary.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the fish flakes nicely with a fork. Thinner fillets may need even less time than that.
If a garnish is desired, use additional sliced lemons and parsley sprigs when plating.

Notes

c = cup

t = teaspoon

T = Tablespoon

lb = pound

Need More Ways to Use Cannabutter?

For even more awesome ways to use your cannabutter, check out a beginner’s guide to cooking with cannabutter. And, if you’re a coffee fan, be sure to check out our guide here: How to Make Coffee With Cannabutter.

Cannabutter Recipes Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: Does Cannabutter Get More Potent the Longer You Cook

A: Yes and no. While your raw cannabis flower does indeed need to be heated and simmered in fat to create cannabis-infused butter or oil, it should only be cooked to a certain point and does not get increasingly potent the longer you cook it.

Treat your cannabutter like a pot roast: cook it low and slow. After two or three hours of simmering, there will be no benefit to cooking it any longer. In fact, the only effects of overcooking your cannabutter will be exactly that: overcooked cannabutter. Scorching the butter or plant material will result in an unpleasant or even unusable cannabutter.

Q: How Much Butter Do You Need for One Cup of Cannabutter?

A: A typical stick of butter contains eight tablespoons, which is equivalent to 1/2 cup. Therefore, to make a whole cup of cannabutter, you’ll need to melt two full sticks of butter. To make a whole pound of cannabutter, you’ll want to double that amount and use a full four sticks.

Q: What Kind of Butter Works Best for Edibles?

A: Plain, unsalted butter is the preference of most veteran cannabutter cooks, but opinions vary. Some people swear by salted butter, while others avoid butter altogether in favor of coconut oil or other cooking oils. In general, use the butter or fat you typically prefer to cook with.

Q: How Do You Make Your Cannabutter Stronger?

A: Making your cannabutter stronger is quite simple and can be done one (or both) of two ways. First, you can use stronger (high-THC), higher-quality cannabis to make your cannabutter. Secondly, you can simply increase the amount of cannabis flower you use per cup of butter.

Kind Meds: A High-Quality, Cannabis Dispensary in Mesa, AZ

Quality Cannabis in Mesa Arizona
When you’re ready to find the perfect strain of cannabis flower for making your cannabutter, stop by our Mesa, AZ cannabis dispensary. Modern retail cannabis dispensaries carry a staggering variety of edibles, from chocolates to chewables, to the delight of many cannabis consumers. In addition, many other people prefer to buy cannabis flower to make their own cannabutter and cannabis edibles at home.