Ah, weed brownies! Who doesn’t remember the infamous 911 call from the police officer and his wife a few years back? The one where they thought they had overdosed—with the claim, “I think we’re dying, and time is going by really really slow.” In case you missed it, here is the entertaining audio that made cannabis users everywhere smile. 

The couple was not harmed in any way, but most likely they made their brownies too strong, claiming they used “a quarter ounce” of cannabis. Perhaps the biggest lesson learned was to use a good recipe and pay attention to the dosages. 

Cannabis edibles are becoming even more popular with recreational and medical users alike. And they are a great alternative to smoking or vaping marijuana. Of course, plenty of commercially available cannabis treats are available for purchase, but making your own edibles is a fun project that will likely save you some cash. Plus, with homemade edibles, you’re in control of the potency. Here is How to Make Classic Weed Brownies (and Space Cake, too) the right way.

Decarboxylation 

For cannabis to be psychoactive, it must be decarboxylated. This goes for both smoking and eating it. It’s a long word but a straightforward concept. It means removing the carboxyl group from the cannabinoid molecule. Doing this transforms the THCA in cannabis into THC. And once it’s converted, it interacts with your body’s receptors to produce the desired uplifting effects. 
To “decarb” your cannabis for use in baked goods, simply heat your buds in the oven for 30 minutes at around 250 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Cannabutter

After the decarboxylation process, you will need to make some cannabutter for baking. This simple process is essentially just mixing your cannabis with standard butter. And it’s the secret to baking with marijuana. Once you learn to make it, you can use cannabutter in almost any recipe, and boom, edible THC! You can even just use it as a spread on toast.

Leafly.com has an excellent one-minute video showing you how to make cannabutter correctly. First, combine equal parts water and butter in a saucepan and low simmer until melted. Next, stir in ground cannabis and simmer for two to three hours with an occasional stir. When finished cooking, strain the plant matter through a cheesecloth or fine sieve and refrigerate for later use.

It is important to note that the dosing of THC in your cannabutter can be complicated if you don’t know how potent your cannabis is. Therefore, we highly suggest using buds from a dispensary with the THC concentration amounts listed on the label. This way, you can accurately calculate the amount of ground cannabis flower you want in your cannabutter. If you need a little help with your calculations, check out Cannabutter Digest’s Cannabutter Ratio Calculator.

Classic Weed Brownies Recipe

• 1 cup cannabutter, melted
• 4 eggs
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 2 cups white sugar 
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• (optional) ½ cup nuts 

1. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl until the batter is smooth (no lumps). 
1a. If using nuts, spread them over the top of the batter in the pan.
2. Pour into a pre-greased 9×13-inch pan
3. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes (insert a toothpick into the center of the pan to make sure the brownies are cooked and not still wet/raw).
4. After cooling, cut and serve/enjoy. This is where you want to err on the side of caution. Start with one Weed Brownie, or even half—not the entire batch, as demonstrated in the unfortunate example above.

Space Cake Recipe

While “Space Cake” is a popular cannabis strain, it was initially a sponge-type cake with THC. It’s a delicious pastry to satisfy your sweet tooth and catch a buzz simultaneously. This Amsterdam original tops the list for cannabis edibles and is right up there with Weed Brownies and THC Gummies. So without further ado, here is our recipe for easy Space Cake.

• ½ cup cannabutter
• 3 eggs
• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 ½ cups packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 1 cup boiling water

1. Combine flour, salt, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl.
2. Using a mixer, cream the cannabutter and brown sugar until they are fluffy. Next, add the eggs one at a time, beating in between each addition.
3. Whisk vanilla and melted chocolate into the cannabutter butter mixture.
4. Whisk the sour cream and flour mixture into the cannabutter mixture.
5. Add boiling water, slowly stirring it in.
6. Pour into a parchment paper-lined 9×13-inch pan.
7. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 minutes.
8. After cooling, cut and serve/enjoy. Again, this is where you want to use caution. Start with one small piece of Space Cake, not the entire cake. 

Now that you know how to make cannabutter, you can bake almost anything with cannabis. As a result of the booming marijuana industry, you can find dozens of excellent cookbooks for cooking and baking with cannabis. Here are some other delectables you can create with cannabutter:

• Cannabis Cookies
• Marijuana Macarons
• Purple Kush Pie
• Mary Jane Muffins
• Ganja Gingerbread
• Baked Out Of My Mind Bread
• Cheech Cheesecake
• Reefer Raisin Bread
• Stoney Scones
• Indica Icing
• Cannabanana Bread

Drop us a comment if you would like some future articles to include one of these recipes. We love to educate and aim to please (and our writer really loves to cook). Also, do you have a great cannabis edible recipe of your own? Let’s hear it!