Besides smoking weed, edibles are by far the most popular way that marijuana enthusiasts have been getting high for years. Cannabis has been eaten for centuries, but it’s become so popular in recent years that there are seemingly endless cannabis-infused delicacies to choose from now. From candies to gummies to any baked good or savory dish you can think of, pretty much anything you can eat normally, you can eat infused with cannabis. (They even have cannabis cooking TV shows now!)
But, it was the classic and iconic weed brownie that started it all, and those weed brownies were made using cannabutter. Cannabutter has been a staple within the edible cannabis community for as long as it has existed and has widely been regarded as the easiest and most efficient way to infuse your food with weed.
So, let’s enter the beautifully delicious and versatile world of cannabutter! We’re here to teach you how to use weed butter, what to make with cannabutter, and what to put cannabutter on.
Key Takeaways
- Cannabutter, also known as weed butter, is a cannabis-infused product made with oil or dairy-based butter.
- There are many ways to use it, but most people like to add it to recipes to create edibles.
- Cannabutter can be made from both flowers and extracts, the first one requiring for you to decarboxylate weed.
- There are many recipes that use cannabutter, from non-baking recipes like chocolate bark to the most iconic chocolate chip cookies.
What is Cannabutter?
Cannabutter (also commonly known as weed butter) is exactly what the name sounds like: cannabis-infused butter. Cannabutter can be made using traditional dairy-based butter, or it can easily be made using any vegan butter substitute of your choice. Instead of butter, you can also use a cooking oil as your medium––olive oil, coconut oil, canola oil, or whatever oil you prefer. Anything fat-based works for this!
You can buy pre-infused edibles, but weed butter is also easy to make at home. In short, the process is pretty simple: you cook or ‘steep’ the weed in the butter, which infuses it with THC (or whichever cannabinoid you’re looking to extract.) Then, you strain and separate the mixture of the marijuana leaves from the butter, so you’re left with a smooth, infused butter (or oil). This makes it the perfect ‘blank canvas’ of sorts to use in your cooking. Basically, anywhere you can use regular butter, you can use weed butter!
How to Make Cannabutter
Cannabutter has also changed a lot since the hemp revolution started with the 2018 Farm Bill. You can now have butter substitutes like coconut or olive oil for a vegan option while also adding extracts instead of flower to infuse them.
But how can you make weed butter? There are many methods out there, but we’ll talk about two specifically. The first one is for people using hemp or cannabis flower, and the second one is for people who can get their hands on extracts.
Flower Cannabutter
If you have herb lying around that you might be afraid of getting stale or simply want to try making some edibles at home, using actual weed for your butter is a classic. Let’s go with the steps to make it.
Step 1: Decarboxylate your weed. Or, in simpler terms, heat up your nugs so the THCA in them is converted into delta 9 THC. You can do this by adding your weed to a cooking tray and heating it at 230°F or 110°C for 30 minutes. If you can go a little higher, just shorten the time in the oven.
Step 2: Melt your butter or oil in a heating pan. Don’t overheat the oil or butter used, just make sure it’s warm.
Step 3: Add your weed to your preferred butter or oil. Add your decarboxylated nugs to the mix and stir. Make sure they get integrated and let them simmer at a very low temperature. Don’t try to rush this, as cannabinoids and fat can get burned off.
Step 4: Strain your cannabutter! Let the mix cool down for a bit, and then strain it. You can use a regular strainer if you don’t mind your food having a few bits here and there, or try using a cheesecloth to keep as much debris from the butter as possible.
Step 5: Enjoy! Store your cannabutter in the fridge when you are not using it in an airtight container. You can now either cook or add this to any recipe.
Extract Cannabutter
Now, if you have some extra juice or crumble leftover and you want to make a potent brownie, you can make some cannabutter from extracts. The process is similar to making herb cannabutter and even easier since you are skipping decarboxylation altogether. Let’s check the steps.
Step 1: Melt your butter or oil in a heating pan. Make sure you don’t overheat the oil or butter you’ll be using.
Step 2: Measure your extract. Make sure the extract you are using is food-grade safe. The best way to know how much you are putting in is by using a scale and weighing the cannabinoid extract.
Step 3. Add the extract to your preferred oil or butter. Make sure your oil is warm enough but not scalding and mix. This time you don’t need to let it simmer. Just make sure the extract is fully dissolved by constantly stirring.
Step 4: Enjoy! Extract cannabutter does not need straining, so feel free to store your cannabutter in the fridge when you are not using it in an airtight container.
How to Use Cannabutter
Once it’s made, you’ll need to know what to do with cannabutter. There are many different cannabutter uses, but the best way to use cannabutter is in baking. Using weed butter this way will infuse the food without overpowering the flavor. Weed butter usually has a strong taste, which can be a bit off-putting to some.
On the other hand, some people love the strong weed taste. If you want to highlight the flavor instead of masking it, you can use cannabutter more liberally or even after the cooking process is done as a topping or garnish. There are really endless ways to use it. Let your creativity run wild!
But we know that’s a bit broad (and some people are a bit too busy to spend a bunch of time experimenting with a bunch of different weed butter recipes), so we’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite and super easy cannabutter recipes that you can easily make at home.
Things to Make with Cannabutter
There are lots of things to make with cannabutter. The possibilities are truly limitless! Pretty much anywhere you can use regular butter in traditional cooking, you can use weed butter.
We’ve compiled some of our favorite (and easiest) cannabutter recipes so you can make some of your own cannabis-infused food at home. It was important for us to choose simple recipes that are relatively accessible for anyone to make, regardless of location, diet, or income. And for our plant-based pot heads, don’t worry––every recipe provided can be easily veganized!
Weed Brownies
We couldn’t start this list without first teaching you the basics of the iconic weed brownie.
For these, you’ll need the following:
- Brownie mix of your choice.
- Your premade cannabutter or oil.
- Eggs or egg replacement.
- Your milk of choice.
- A pan and an oven.
Step 1: Acquire brownie mix. Look at the instructions. Follow them, probably.
Step 2: Use your cannabutter as the butter needed per the recipe.
Step 3: Bake according to the package instructions. (This is rocket science, right?)
Step 4: Let cool, eat, and go to space. Enjoy!
If you’re a bit more adventurous, you can also make your brownies from scratch. Any brownie recipe of your choice works here, including the brownie recipe that has been passed down to your family for generations that would be really good with a cannabis-infused twist.
Banana Bread
Banana bread is another super easy recipe to make infused with cannabis.
For this, you’ll need the following:
- Very ripe (or even overripe) bananas.
- Your premade cannabutter or oil.
- Baking soda.
- Salt.
- Sugar.
- Eggs or egg replacement.
- Vanilla extract.
- Flour.
- A pan and an oven.
Step 1: Mash up your bananas
Step 2: Mix your cannabutter with your mashed bananas.
Step 3: Add baking soda, salt, and sugar. Combine.
Step 4: Add eggs and vanilla extract. Combine.
Step 5: Add flour. Combine.
Step 6: Pour into pan and bake.
Step 7: Let cool, eat, and enjoy the heaven that is canna-banana bread.
We’ve provided an easy at-home banana bread recipe for you to follow with specific instructions on measurements and temperature, but you can also find premade banana bread mixes as well. Just add your cannabutter and any other ingredients it calls for per the package instructions, and you’re good to go!
Waffles
Waffles (or pancakes) are a super versatile way to utilize your weed butter. This gives you an opportunity to both cook it in the batter (infused oil works here too) or slather the butter on top.
For these, you’ll need the following:
- Waffle (or pancake) batter mix.
- Your premade cannabutter and/or oil.
- Your milk of choice.
- Eggs or egg replacement.
- A waffle iron, griddle, or frying pan.
Step 1: Follow the instructions on the waffle mix.
Step 2: Sub your weed butter or oil for the butter or oil as per the recipe.
Step 3: Put the waffle mix in the waffle iron as per the instructions.
Step 4: (Optional) slather your cannabutter on top for extra pizazz.
Again this can also be done from scratch as there are about a zillion waffle and pancake recipes out there. Or, if you want something even easier, you can throw a couple of frozen waffles in the toaster, top with cannabutter, and enjoy.
Omelettes
Omelettes (or eggs in any form, really) are an absolutely beautiful way to use cannabutter.
For this, you’ll need the following:
- Eggs or an egg substitute.
- Your premade cannabutter and/or oil.
- Your milk of choice.
- Your cheese of choice.
- Your veggies and filling of choice.
- A frying pan.
Step 1: Prep your egg mixture and add desired seasonings.
Step 2: Prep your fillings of choice and add them to the egg mixture.
Step 3: Add your milk and cheese of choice along with your cannabutter.
Step 4: (Optional) use canna-oil to line the pan and fry the omelette.
This is a wonderful opportunity to get creative with your cooking. We’d bet that most people know how to make some kind of omelette or egg dish, and thankfully, those dishes are super easy to infuse with cannabis. They’re also easy to make vegan––just use a plant-based egg substitute, vegan cheese, and non-dairy milk alternative.
Smoothies
We know you may be thinking: “Butter in smoothies?! Ew.” But, we actually recommend using an oil like coconut oil for this recipe because of its taste and health benefits.
For this, you’ll need the following:
- Your fruit of choice.
- Your infused coconut oil.
- Your protein powder or other additives of choice.
- Your milk of choice (water works here, too.)
- A blender.
Step 1: Add your fruit of choice to the blender.
Step 2: Add a small amount of your infused coconut oil (less is more in terms of the health benefits, so we recommend around 1 tbsp.)
Step 3: Add your protein powder or any other additive of your choice.
Step 4: Add your milk or water and blend for at least 30 seconds.
The great thing about smoothies is that they are incredibly versatile and can be made in a wide variety of ways. Along with fruit, you can choose to add greens like kale or spinach, seeds like flax, hemp, or chia, protein powders, peanut butter, superfoods, and more. The opportunities are limitless!
Hummus
For this recipe, we once again recommend using oil instead of butter. (Olive oil works best here!)
For this, you’ll need the following:
- Cooked chickpeas (or garbanzo beans.)
- Lemon juice.
- Your premade infused oil.
- Tahini.
- Garlic.
- Your seasonings and fillings of choice.
- A food processor (or blender.)
Step 1: Add your cooked chickpeas to your food processor or blender.
Step 2: Add your desired amount of garlic (we’re not going to tell you how to live your life!)
Step 3: Add the lemon juice, tahini, infused oil, seasonings, and fillings as per the recipe.
Step 4: Blend it all together until smooth. Enjoy!
Hummus is another super easy food to customize almost any way you like. As far as fillings, you can make hummus with things like roasted red pepper, artichoke, hot sauce, kalamata olives, different cheeses of choice, or anything else you can think of. The key to the rich taste and texture of hummus is the oil, which makes this the perfect opportunity for you to infuse some olive oil and make a delicious canna-hummus.
Grilled Cheese
Grilled cheese sandwiches are the perfect opportunity to utilize a bit of cannabutter.
For this, you’ll need the following:
- Your bread of choice.
- Your cheese of choice.
- Your infused butter.
- A frying pan.
Step 1: Spread your cannabutter along one side of each slice of bread.
Step 2: Assemble your grilled cheese with the buttered side facing outward.
Step 3: Commence the grilling of the grilled cheese until it’s toasted golden brown.
Step 4: Add a bit more cannabutter to the pan as needed while cooking. That’s it. Voila!
Grilled cheese is about as classic as it gets when it comes to food, so we figured this would be a fun, easy, cheap, accessible, and not to mention delicious way to use your weed butter.
Macaroni and Cheese
Mac and cheese is a stape of munchies food, and now we’re about to make it a staple of infused food, too.
For this, you’ll need the following:
- A box of macaroni.
- Your premade weed butter.
- Your milk of choice.
Step 1: Cook the macaroni per the box instructions. (Oh yeah, we’re back to rocket science here.)
Step 2: Add your cannabutter in place of regular butter.
Step 3: Mix with your milk of choice.
Step 4: Enjoy the dankest bowl of mac and cheese you’ve eve
Once again, if you’d rather do macaroni and cheese from scratch, there are literally thousands of different mac and cheese recipes online, where the simple step would be to replace the regular butter with cannabutter. So let your imagination run wild here!
Popcorn
You can use either butter or oil for this simple recipe, whichever is better for your preferred eating style.
For this, you’ll need:
- Popcorn kernels.
- Your premade weed butter or oil.
- A pot and a stove.
Step 1: Pop the popcorn.
Step 2: Drizzle with melted cannabutter or oil.
Step 3: Enjoy your pot-corn!
We clearly saved the most complicated one for last, but it’s also one of the yummiest. If you want to make it even easier, just pop a premade bag in the microwave.
What to Make with Cannabutter: No-Bake Recipes
If you are looking for what to make with cannabutter with no oven involved, we also have a few recipes you’d like. From delicious THC-infused candies to adding them to different beverages, these recipes are easy and require no baking.
Cannabutter Chocolate Bark
If you love chocolate and want recipes that use cannabutter, it’s pretty easy to create decadent magic chocolate bars that can look straight out of a chocolatier.
With homemade chocolate bars and barks, you can go as creative as you want. Just make sure to use your preferred chocolate brand and coconut oil.
For this, you’ll need the following:
- Infused oil. We recommend coconut for a better snap.
- A chocolate bar.
- Toppings! You can use nuts, dried berries, pinenuts, pistachios, or anything you like or have at hand.
- A microwave and a bowl.
- A silicone mold.
Step 1: Add your chocolate with the infused oil in a bowl. If you are using butter or any other oil besides coconut oil, try adding 5ml of coconut oil to add a snap to your bar.
Step 2: Put the bowl in the microwave and melt the chocolate and cannabutter in 20-second intervals.
Step 3: Stir between the intervals. Make sure the chocolate and oil become fully liquid and integrated.
Step 4: Add your chocolate mix to your silicone mold. Make sure the mix is not too hot and use oven-safe silicon molds for this. You can buy fancy shape molds to make your chocolate feel cuter, but a simple oven-safe bread mold will work. An oven tray with a silicon mat will also work.
Step 5: Decorate! This step is optional, but you can really make your bark shine if you add nuts, pinenuts, salt, or anything you feel like adding to really make your bark shine.
Step 6: Freeze and enjoy. Put your chocolate mix in your freezer for at least 2 hours. Then enjoy as much as you want. These barks are perfect as a gift or to indulge with a piece after a long day.
Cannabutter Popcorn
Now, one of the most versatile and easy ways to try popcorn. You can always add the cannabutter or oil directly to your popcorn or even make creative concoctions with Tajín-tasting butter, caramel, or even some sweet chili snack for something different.
For this, you’ll need the following:
- One cup of popcorn kernels.
- Your premade weed butter or oil.
- A pot and a stove.
For the special sauces
- Tajín sauce: 3 tbsp of premade weed butter and 3 tbsp of Tajín.
- Caramel sauce: 3 tbsp maple syrup and 2 tbsp of premade weed butter or oil.
- Sweet chili sauce: Same as Tajín Sauce, and add a tbsp of sugar or Miguelito from a Mexican candy store.
Step 1: Pop the popcorn. You can always use a medium pot and stir if you don’t have a machine at home, or get microwave popcorn.
Step 2: Drizzle with melted cannabutter or oil. If you want to make any of the sauces, just add the ingredients to a bowl and microwave it in 10-second intervals. Make sure that the butter doesn’t explode. Also, for the caramel, try to mix it very well as it can burn easily.
Step 3: Enjoy your pot-corn! Remember, you can always share these or try new sauces that fit your taste.
These popcorn are some of the tastiest around. And while they are easy to make, you can also create a butter sauce with other toppings, like garlic-parmesan, cheddar powder, ranch powder, and even some lemon pepper dressing.
Just make sure to add them to the butter when it’s melted, and you have a creative outlet for all your infused popcorn needs.
Cannabutter Grilled Cheese
Looking for something salty to use your weed butter on? A grilled cheese sandwich is a simple yet delicious solution. Also, you can make this as simple or as bougie as you want. Let’s go with a simple recipe that is built up as you like.
For this, you’ll need the following:
- 2 slices of your bread of choice. We recommend Texas Toast or thick bread.
- ½ cup of your shredded cheese of choice. American cheese will work, go for a gouda, cheddar, and gruyere blend for something fancier.
- 2 tbsp of your infused butter.
- A frying pan.
Step 1: Spread your cannabutter along one side of each slice of bread. We recommend also spreading the butter inside so it makes gooey, rich goodness.
Step 2: Assemble your grilled cheese with the buttered side facing outward.
Step 3: Melt down the cheese by covering the pan with a lid. You can also opt for actually grilling the cheese and letting a crust form if you like cheese crusts.
Step 4: Add a bit more cannabutter to the pan as needed while cooking. That’s it. Voila!
Grilled cheese is about as classic as it gets when it comes to food, so we figured this would be a fun, easy, cheap, accessible, and not to mention delicious way to use your weed butter. This way, you can also create fancy snacks with different types of cheese or add a few slices of tomato if you want to add a little freshness to this.
What to Make with Cannabutter: Baking Recipes
So, you’ve got your cannabutter, and you are probably asking yourself what to make with cannabutter. Well, baking goods and cannabis have always been very good friends. Not only does cannabutter make these products “magi,” but this is also a way to be as creative as you feel with new recipes.
Let’s take a look at some of the best recipes with weed butter that you can bake at home.
Cannabutter Chocolate Chip Cookies
While brownies are an edible staple, here’s one of the best recipes with weed butter: Chocolate Chip Cookies. This recipe is based on one of our famous cookie concoctions, so if you are interested in modifying it, you can get the basics over here.
For this modified choco-chip cookie, you’ll need the following:
- 1 cup of softened cannabutter or oil.
- 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. You can also get dark or milk chocolate, semi-sweet is the baseline for most cookies, but choose your favorites here.
- 2 ¼ cups of baking flour of your choice.
- ¾ cup of brown sugar. You can use white, but brown sugar gives choco-chip an incredible taste you won’t get with others.
- 1 tsp molasses. While these are optional, they really give that color and decadent flavor to cookies you’ll be missing out on.
- 1 large egg or plant-based egg replacement.
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda.
- 1 teaspoon of salt. We recommend regular salt for this.
- ½ teaspoon baking powder.
- Spatula.
- 2 mixing bowls.
- Baking Sheet.
Step 1: Mix your dry ingredients in your bowl. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Have the mix evenly distributed before adding other products.
Step 2: Mix the wet ingredients. In another bowl, add the melted cannabutter or oil with brown sugar and beat them together until fluffy. Unless you want to add some elbow grease to this, you can do this with a hand or stand mixer.
Step 3: Stir between the intervals. Make sure the chocolate and oil become fully liquid and integrated.
Step 4: Add the egg, molasses, and vanilla to the wet mix. After this, you can now fold in your dry ingredients until you’ve had your dough.
Step 5: Add your chocolate chips! You can add them all in this step or add ⅔ of a cup first and add the remaining ones as decoration once you’ve laid down your cookies.
Step 6: Prepare your baking sheet. We recommend using cooking oil or butter to grease your pan or using a silicon mat.
Step 7: Make cookie dough balls! We recommend making them 1 inch in diameter and at least 3 inches apart. You can now optionally use a small ice cream scoop to make this process quicker.
Step 8: Bake the cookies! Some people like freezing their dough balls beforehand for at least an hour to give their cookies a special chew. You can also cook them at 350°F for 10-15 minutes. For a soft result, try leaving the tray for a shorter time.
Remember to check with a toothpick to make sure the dough is cooked. If the toothpick or tool comes out clean, make sure to turn the oven off, and you are ready for some infused cookies.
Cannabutter Banana Bread
This recipe is bananas. Well, not really, but banana bread is a super easy way to use both ripe bananas and cannabis together. Best of all? It’s so easy to make you could blend everything in a mixer and bake it.
For this, you’ll need the following:
- 2-3 medium, very ripe (or even overripe) bananas. Any kind will work; just make sure they are ripe and not rotten.
- ½ cup of your premade cannabutter or oil. Butter will give a compact crumb, while oil will work better.
- 1 tsp baking soda.
- ½ tsp salt.
- ½ cup of sugar or sweetener.
- 2 eggs or egg replacements. Unlike with cookies, a flax seed egg will work just as well with this kind of bread.
- ½ tsp vanilla extract.
- 1 ½ cups of flour.
- A pan and an oven.
- Optional: ½ cup raisins, nuts, walnuts, or pinenuts.
Step 1: Mash up your bananas. If your bananas are not ripe enough, we recommend putting them in a paper bag and letting them ripe inside your oven overnight.
Step 2: Mix your cannabutter or oil with your mashed bananas.
Step 3: Add the baking soda, salt, and sugar. Combine the mix very well until everything has the same texture.
Step 4: Add the eggs and vanilla extract. It should look well mixed with the eggs fully combined.
Step 5: Add flour slowly and combine. You could also blend everything until this point and add the wet mix to the flour in a bowl. After this, you can add the nuts, pinenuts, and other ingredients.
Step 6: Grease your pan and pour the mix into it. Then, bake for 55-60 minutes at 350°F. You’ll know when it’s done by inserting a toothpick in the center and checking if it’s clean.
Step 7: Let the banana bread rest for at least 10 minutes.
Banana bread is always a nice staple to have around your house, so having a magic version with delicious cannabutter will make this bread even more magical. You can also add some chocolate chips or cocoa to this recipe to experiment with cocoa-banana bread as well! Have it with some tea or milk, and you are good to enjoy a decadent-yet-simple high.
Cannabutter: FAQ
We’ve explored some of the best recipes about cannabutter, but you might have a few questions here and there. We gathered some of the most frequently asked questions about weed butter, so let’s explore them.
How to Store Cannabutter
To store cannabutter, we recommend using at least an airtight container. Plastic is fine, but we really recommend using glass so your butter doesn’t leave a herb aftertaste on the container in your fridge.
How Long Does Cannabutter Last?
Cannabutter and vegan equivalents usually last up to two weeks in the fridge and up to six months if you keep them in the freezer. If you do want to keep your cannabutter for a long time, make sure to wrap it in foil or parchment paper and then store it in an airtight container.
How to Make Cannabutter in a Crock Pot
The best way to make cannabutter in a crock pot is to add your decarbed weed with butter or oil in a mason jar and let it heat in a water bath. We’d recommend doing this in the lowest setting for 3 to 4 hours.
Can you Freeze Cannabutter?
Yes, you can freeze cannabutter. Make sure that if you are putting it in the fridge, you are using foil to prevent cannabinoids from breaking down from your product.
**(Disclaimer reminder: This article is not medical advice. It is based on anecdotal user experience alone. If you are thinking about incorporating cannabis (delta-8 THC, delta-9 THC, CBD, etc) into your medicinal routine, please consult a healthcare professional. Do not stop taking any prescribed medications without first consulting your doctor.)
Disclaimer: This article reflects the laws of the United States at the time it was written. Because cannabis laws in the United States laws are subject to change at any time, please make sure that you are always staying up to date on your federal, state, and local county’s cannabis laws. Additionally, we are NOT encouraging anyone to break the law––we are simply showing people ways to legally and discreetly bring their cannabis products along with them on their travels so that they may have access to those products when they reach their intended destination.
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