The Best Cannabis Brownie Recipe 2 Nov, 2020
The Best Cannabis Brownie Recipe
Personal preference definitely plays a role in what you think makes a cannabis brownie great. Everyone has their own unique preferences– for both the cannabis edible element and the brownie element. For example, some people like edibles that will help them melt into their couch, while others like a more uplifting experience. Then, some people like cake-like brownies, while others like fudgy brownies. But while personal tastes will always affect how someone feels about a cannabis brownie batch. There are some things everyone should do if they want to make an amazing cannabis brownie. And, below, we’re sharing these things as we go over how to make the best cannabis brownie! We’ll start with our top tips for making cannabis brownies, then share two of the very best cannabis brownie recipes.
Tips on Making The Best Cannabis Brownies
Choose Your Cannabis Strain Wisely
Throwing just any old strain into your brownies is not going to provide the most curated experience, and it also may not provide an amazing taste. Different strains of cannabis come with different effects, aromas, and tastes. So, when you’re getting your cannabis brownie ingredients together, choose your cannabis strain wisely. Do you want brownies that will make you feel calm and sleepy? Happy and optimistic? Think about which Indica, Sativa, or hybrid strain and THC to CBD ratio would give you the right type of experience. Then, also make sure you choose a strain with a flavor profile that will pair well with your brownies. Many flower strains work well in brownies, so you have plenty of options. However, there are some marijuana notes that a lot of people will dislike when paired with chocolate (piney, skunky, and peppery notes come to mind).
Adjust Your Ounce Amount to Your Liking
Cannabis brownie recipes will instruct you to use a certain amount of marijuana when you make the recipe. Really, however, you should think of this as a suggested amount– how potent you want your brownies to be is entirely up to you. If you want to add a little less or a little more cannabis, that won’t affect your overall recipe, just its potency.
However, do remember to keep the rest of your recipe proportions the same! For example, if your recipe uses half a cup of cannabutter, don’t add less butter to your recipe. Either use less flour when you’re making your cannabutter or use a mixture of cannabutter and regular butter when it comes time to bake (say, a quarter cup of cannabutter and a quarter cup of regular butter). Baking is a science, so stick to your recipe’s proportions and instructions if you want good results. If you don’t, your brownies could end up being dry, crumbly, flat, or bitter.
Add Mint
If you don’t like the smell or taste of marijuana, here’s a pro-tip: add a bit of mint to your brownie recipe. Fresh mint leaves are excellent at offsetting the flavor of cannabis. They also add a delicious, fresh taste that pairs very well with chocolate. So, finely mince a few fresh mint leaves and mix them in as a final step before pouring your batter into your brownie pan.
Don’t Neglect Decarboxylation
If you want your marijuana brownies to be potent, don’t neglect to decarb the cannabis you use in your recipe. Decarboxylation involves applying heat to cannabis in order to activate the THC within it. Fresh, raw cannabis contains little to no THC. Instead, it contains plenty of THCA, which turns into THC during decarboxylation. THCA is non-intoxicating, whereas THC is responsible for cannabis’s psychoactive effects. So, if you don’t decarb, you’re not going to feel much (or anything at all) from your edibles, which makes decarboxylation an essential step when you’re cooking with cannabis.
Take Care to Improve Dosage Consistency
Getting an accurate and even dosage in homemade cannabis edibles is very tricky. There are just so many factors that can affect dosage, so your dosage could vary even when you make the same recipe twice. Additionally, the homemade edible dosage can vary even within the same batch– it’s very possible for one of your cannabis brownies to be stronger than another one that was only a few inches away in the same pan. If you want to minimize the risk of these types of inconsistencies, however, there are a few things you can do when making your recipe, including:
- Portion Premade Cannabutter Vertically: If you’ll be baking with a cannabutter or cannabis-infused coconut oil that you premade, you need to think about settling. When cannabutter or cannabis-infused coconut oil solidifies, cannabinoids with different molecular weights will settle at different places within the butter or oil. Basically, this means that you shouldn’t just scoop the top off of a batch of cannabutter or cannabis oil. Instead, take a vertical section that will have a more even spread of cannabinoids.
- Measure Carefully: Don’t just measure an edible recipe by eye. Measure your ingredients (especially your cannabis-infused ingredients) carefully, filling and leveling your measuring cups with precision.
- Stir Very Well: Something that causes variation within the same cannabis brownie batch is a lack of consistency within the batter. You want your cannabis-infused ingredient to be very well incorporated into your batter, so stir well until you’re sure everything is fully mixed– then maybe stir just a little more. You don’t want to over mix your brownies, since that will make them tough. But do make sure that all of your ingredients are fully incorporated before pouring your batter into your pan.
- Cut Even Portions: When you cut your brownies, try to cut them as evenly as you can so that your edibles are perfectly proportioned. If you need to, grab a ruler to help with this step.
Two of the Best Cannabis Brownie Recipes
Do you like your brownies to be fudgy or cake-like? Whatever your answer, we have the perfect cannabis brownie recipe for you. Below, we’re sharing two excellent cannabis brownie recipes: one for the best fudgy cannabis brownies and one for the best cake-like cannabis brownies. Both of these are made with cannabutter, so we’ll share our cannabutter recipe first below!
Cannabutter Recipe
Ingredients
7 to 10 Grams (About 1 Cup) of Ground Cannabis
1 Cup of Unsalted Butter
1 Cup of Water
- First, decarb your cannabis flower. Preheat your oven to 245 degrees Fahrenheit. Place your ground cannabis on a parchment paper-lined baking tray, then place in your preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes. Every 10 minutes, remove your tray and give it a shake to help you flower heat more evenly. After a total of 30 to 40 minutes, remove your tray from the oven and let your newly decarbed cannabis cool off.
- Next, it’s time to use your decarbed cannabis to make your infused-butter. Place 1 cup of water and 1 cup of butter in a medium saucepan or stockpot. With your burner on low heat, heat your butter and water until the butter is melted and the mixture is well combined.
- Add 1 cup of coarsely ground cannabis to your butter and water mixture, keeping your burner heat on low. Stir to combine. Allow your mixture to simmer uncovered for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally to ensure your butter does not burn. Your mixture should simmer and never come to a full boil.
- Remove pot from heat and strain the cannabis buds from your cannabis-infused butter using a fine-mesh strainer that you’ve lined with cheesecloth. Press into the plant matter in the strainer after your initial pour to ensure you squeeze out all the butter.
- Allow your cannabutter to come to room temperature, then enjoy it! Your cannabutter can be used immediately or can be stored in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to use it.
Recipe #1: The Best Cannabis Brownie Recipe for Fudgy Cannabis Brownies
Ingredients
¾ Cup Cannabutter
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 4 Ounce Semi-Sweet or Dark Chocolate Bar, Chopped Into Chunks
2 Cup Sugar
3 Large Eggs, At Room Temperature
1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (Optional)
2 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
1 cup Dutch-process Cocoa Powder
3 Fresh Mint Leaves, Finely Chopped (Optional)
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a 9×13 inch baking pan by greasing it or lining it with parchment paper.
- Place your cannabutter and half of your chopped chocolate bar into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second increments until melted, stirring after each.
- Add your sugar into your melted chocolate and butter mixture and whisk until completely combined. Then, whisk in your eggs and vanilla extract until completely combined.
- Add your cocoa powder, flour, salt, and the other half of your chopped chocolate bar. Fold your dry ingredients into your brownie mix until combined. Add in your chocolate chips and mint if desired, and fold until evenly incorporated.
- Pour your batter into your prepared baking pan, making sure to spread it evenly in the pan.
- Place your pan into your preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of your pan. When your toothpick comes out with only a few moist crumbs, your brownies are done. If your toothpick comes out covered in wet batter, keep baking, checking again every 2 minutes until your brownies are done.
- Remove your baked brownies from the oven and allow to cool completely in your pan. Then, cut your brownies into even squares and enjoy.
Recipe #2: The Best Cannabis Brownie Recipe for Cake-Like Cannabis Brownies
Ingredients
1 Cup Cannabutter
2 ¼ Cups Sugar
1 ¼ Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
5 Large Eggs
1 Teaspoon Salt
½ Water
1 ½ Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (Optional)
3 Fresh Mint Leaves, Finely Chopped (Optional)
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare a 9×13 inch baking pan by lightly greasing it.
- Carefully melt your cannabutter in 30-second intervals in a microwave-safe bowl or over low-medium heat on your stovetop, stirring frequently.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine your melted cannabutter and white sugar, stirring together until smooth.
- Add in your cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and vanilla. Stir together until smooth.
- Beat in your eggs one at a time, then add your water. Stir until smooth and scrape the sides of your bowl to make sure no ingredients have stuck there.
- Add your flour and stir until fully incorporated. Then add your chocolate chips and mint leaves if desired, stirring until they’re evenly distributed.
- Pour your batter into your prepared baking pan and spread evenly.
- Bake your brownies for 28 minutes, then check them for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of your brownies. Your brownies are done when your toothpick either comes out completely clean or when it only has a few moist crumbs attached. When your brownies are done, they’ll also feel set on the edges and in the middle.
- Remove your brownies from the oven and allow to cool completely in your pan. Then, cut your brownies into even squares and enjoy!
How to Make Any Brownie Recipe Into a Cannabis Brownie Recipe
Have a favorite brownie recipe that you want to make into a cannabis recipe? The easiest way to infuse any batch of brownies with cannabis is to make cannabutter or cannabis oil, such as cannabis-infused coconut oil. Then, just use that in place of the butter or oil in your favorite brownie recipe. All brownie recipes will include some type of fat, like butter or oil since a brownie needs some fat content to be tender. So, you’ll always be able to just swap out your regular fat for marijuana butter or cannabis-infused oil, allowing you to make any brownie recipe (including the one on the back of the box of a brownie mix) into a cannabis brownie recipe.
A Note on Consuming Cannabis Brownies
If you’re new to making homemade marijuana brownies, make sure you go low and slow when you finally eat your delicious cannabis-infused dessert. Eat less of a brownie than you think you need, especially when you’re trying a new recipe for the first time (or using a different strain or amount of cannabis in your usual recipe). Then, remember that while you can sometimes feel the effects of an edible 30 to 60 minutes after taking it, it can also take up to three hours for an edible to kick in.
Edibles provide different effects than other types of cannabis– most people would say that edibles feel stronger once they kick in. And the dosage in a homemade edible can be very hard to predict. So, it’s really just so much better to go low and slow when you’re first trying out homemade edibles since it’s easy to accidentally overdo it.
Final Thoughts on Making the Best Cannabis Brownies
Cannabis brownies are decadent, delicious, and delightful to experience– especially when the baker really nails the recipe. We hope this guide on how to make the best cannabis brownie has helped you elevate your homemade cannabis brownie baking process so that your next batch will be your best ever.
If you have any questions for us, please feel free to reach out! We’re always happy to answer our customers’ cannabis queries and offer up personalized recommendations (such as recommendations for great strains to use when making brownies!). You can get in touch with us through our website by clicking here. Or, if you’d prefer to speak with one of our knowledgeable employees over the phone, you can simply give your closest Essence Dispensary location a call during our business hours.