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CBD is so hot right now. According to search trends, CBD is more popular than Jesus, Kanye West and Taylor Swift right now. I'm going to bake with it and teach you how to make your own infused edibles using infused oils to replace the oil/fat in a cookie recipe. These are for adults only, please eat and share responsibly.
Quickie CBD/Cannabis Backgrounder:
CBD is cannabidiol, one of the over 113 cannabinoids found in the plant, that DOES NOT get you high but does help with feeling calmer, reducing stress, sleep and as an anti-inflammatory.
THC, tetrahydrocannabinol, is another cannabinoid that goes give you that high feeling but is also beneficial for pain management, increasing appetite and stress reduction. If you don't want to feel high or think that THC is the devil, that's cool, it has it's uses and it's not for everyone.
Hemp-derived CBD with less than 0.3% THC is federally legal in all 50 U.S. States. Cannabis with higher levels of THC is recreationally legal in California (where I live) and in other states. In a few states, cannabis with higher levels of THC is illegal. Check your local laws. Please buy from a reputable shop or dispensary. Quality matters.
Cannabis sativa is the latin name for the cannabis and hemp plant, I'll refer to both CBD and THC as cannabis. Which one you want to put in your cookies and how you want to feel is up to you, but the technique is the same.
Why and how am I qualified to teach you?
TBH this is my first time baking infused edibles and it went REALLY WELL! I worked for Papa & Barkley*, a leading California cannabis wellness company known for it's topicals and tinctures, so I've learned a TON of newfound knowledge that I'm excited to share. There are so many beneficial uses for cannabis and I love the rise of culinary cannabis, check out Food & Wine's article about the topic. If you're curious about cannabis products I highly recommend Papa & Barkley products. This is not a shameless plug. I really do love their products and wholeheartedly support their clean, solventless, whole plant philosophy. They're one the good guys and have the BEST quality out there.
*This blog post is not affiliated with or sponsored by Papa & Barkley, all views expressed here are my own. I did receive product as a perk of the job but am in no way compensated for this post.
The Basics of Infusing Edibles:
Replace the oil/fat in any recipe with equal amount of cannabis infused oil
Where to get cannabis infused oil: Buy a infused oil tincture (like Papa & Barkley) from or infused olive oil from your local dispensary (Potli makes awesome infused kitchen pantry goods). Or make your own infused cannabutter (this is a whole other topic).
Bake at a lower temp 340F for a longer time: Overheating your cannabis will compromise the cannabinoids and terpenes (flavors).
Dosing is important: Using a tincture or oil is more convenient because the cannabinoid mg count has been tested and calculated. So all you need is read the label and apply some math to figure out how much goes in your batch. ~5mg per cookie or less is a good place to start, you can always eat more. Low and slow, too much THC is not a good feeling. Read the Batch Label on your product to know how many mg per serving and per bottle.
Isolate and Distillate Powders: This is an option, you can buy powder of just isolate and add to your recipe. But I'm personally not a fan of these method because of the chemical extraction process and because it just doesn't work as well as when you have the whole plant and all the cannabinoids working together -- called the Entourage Effect. Look for whole plant, full spectrum.
No THC whatsoever: If you're concerned about THC showing up on a drug test, then full spectrum whole plant may not be for you. In that case, broad spectrum or an isolate would be better as the THC has been removed.
Eating Edibles: When you ingest/eat an edible, it takes time to work through your digestive system and for you to feel it. Everybody is different so it could be anywhere between 30 mins to 90 mins before you feel the effects. Eat ONE, wait an hour+ to see how you feel. Don't eat more cookies after 20 minutes thinking it didn't work and next thing you know you've had too much.
Enough Yip-Tap, Get On with the Recipe!
I started with The Salty Marshmallow's Butterscotch Chip Cookies recipe, calculated how much infused oil needed for approximately 5mg per cookie, and then substituted that oil for the equal amount of butter in the recipe.
The math is the same but the amounts will vary depending on what tincture/oil you purchased and that product's potency of CBD and THC. Read the BATCH LABEL on your product to see its exactly cannabinoid count per serving.
Math!
For this recipe that made ~52 small cookies, I would need the equivalent of 260mg CBD/THC in the batter (52 cookies x 5mg per cookie = 260mg).
I know that each full dropper of the Papa & Barkley1:3 tincture I used has 29 mg according to the batch label (25mg THC and 4mg CBD)
260mg divided by 29mg (total mg count per dropper) = ~9 [Total mg in the batter divided by total mg in each full dropper]
So I need 9 full droppers which is the equivalent of less than ~3/4 tablespoon
I would take out a 3/4 tablespoon of butter and substitute the 9 droppers of infused oil
Formula - How to Calculate:
[# of cookies/servings] x [mg of THC/CBD per cookie, I recommend 5mg] = [total mg infused oil needed]
[total mg oil needed] / [total mg count per full dropper] = [# of droppers of infused oil]
Convert ml of oil to tablespoon/teaspoon. Substitute equal amount of butter.
Bake!
Remember to lower the baking temp to 340F and extend the baking time to account for the lower temp.
Baking with Cannabis Leaves? You might like my Cannabis Leaf Lime Sweet RollsBuy Stuff
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