RECIPE: How to make the best Marijuana brownies

When it comes to ingesting marijuana there are fewer more popular methods than cooking the herb into tasty edibles. Making potent marijuana brownies is however sadly not as simple as blending the herb with your favourite packet of brownie ready-mix, and takes a little patience and work. With Marijuana usage decriminalised for personal use in your home, here is the perfect recipe for delicious and effective brownies.

Before we begin, please remember, because THC reacts differently when you consume it to when you smoke it, it’s wise to keep the dosage smaller and to remember that it may take some time for your body to metabolise the brownies. The length of time it will take for an edible to metabolise in your system will depend upon how much you have eaten that day and the speed of your own personal metabolism.

Also remember that when making edibles, the strain of marijuana you pick will impact the effect that your brownies will have. A Sativa strain will give you a more exciting creative and energetic feeling, while an Indica strain will make you more relaxed. Both strains can severely ruin your day if you eat too much of them so don’t eat a pan thinking nothing is happening.

While it is possible to make a “weed oil” as the base for your brownies, we recommend using a butter base instead. The first step is creating a cannabis-infused butter that will later become an important part of your brownies.

Cannabis Butter Recipe

What you need

30g of your favourite Marijuana strain

450g of butter

1 litre of water

Method

Preheat your oven to 110°C

Spread your ground Marijuana evenly on a lined baking tray and bake for roughly 30 minutes. This process causes decarboxylation which helps speed up the infusion process later. Stir the Marijuana around with a spoon every 15 minutes.

Bring the litre of water to boil and add in your butter. Stir, allowing the butter to melt fully, and blend with the water.

Turn the heat on the stove down low, and add the baked marijuana to the mixture. Your butter mixture should only ever reach a gentle simmer as too high a temperature will evaporate the THC content.

Leave the mixture to simmer for about three hours, stirring regularly. It should reduce and have a thick, glossy, buttery texture. If you want a stronger mixture you can allow it to simmer for longer, adding in a cup of extra water to ensure the mixture doesn’t burn.

Finally, when the mixture is just right, cool it before straining it through a cheesecloth into a sealable plastic container. Squeeze the leftovers in the cheesecloth to get out as much butter as possible.

Store the butter in the fridge till firm. Any remaining water will separate from your butter and can be dried up with a paper towel.

At this stage, you have a Marijuana infused butter and can literally use it for anything like baking cookies, or even spreading on toast. We recommend brownies.

Brownie recipe

Ingredients

185g of quality dark chocolate

185g of butter prepared as above

85g plain flour

40g cocoa powder

50g white chocolate

50g milk chocolate

3 large eggs

275g golden caster sugar

Method

Chop the butter up and add it to a bowl with the dark chocolate, which has been broken into pieces.

Fill a small saucepan about a quarter full with hot water, then put the butter/chocolate bowl on top so it rests on the rim of the pan, not touching the water. Put over a low heat until the butter and chocolate have melted. Stir to ensure they are blended together.

Remove the bowl from the pan and allow the mixture to cool.

Position a rack in the middle of your oven, which you set to 170 degrees or 160 degrees with a fan.

Using a shallow 20cm square tin, cut out a square of non-stick baking parchment to line the base.

Sieve the plain flour and cocoa powder into a medium bowl.

Break the white chocolate and milk chocolate into chunks.

In a separate bowl break 3 large eggs and tip in the golden caster sugar. With an electric mixer on maximum speed, whisk the eggs and sugar. It’s ready when the mixture becomes pale and about double its original volume.

Pour the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg and sugar bowl, then gently fold the two mixtures together with a rubber spatula. Effectively you dig the spatula down to the bottom at one side, scoop along the bottom and lift it up to press over the opposite side. Keep doing this while turning the bowl each time until the two mixtures are blended and the colour is a mottled dark brown. Be gentle and slow as you don’t want to knock all the air out of the mixture.

Sieve the cocoa and flour mixture over the top of the blended mixture, spreading the powder as evenly as possible over the top.

Now fold in the powder using the same method as before. The mixture will start off looking dry, but keep going gently and patiently and it will eventually end up looking sticky and fudgy.

Stir in the milk and white chocolate chunks.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, scraping every bit out of the bowl with the spatula. Smoothe it into the corners and flatten the top.

Put the tin in the oven and leave it there for 25 minutes. Once that has baked test the brownie by gently shaking the tin. If it wobbles in the middle it needs another five minutes. It’s ready when the top has a shiny, papery appearance and the sides are just beginning to come away from the tin.

Take out of the oven. Leave to completely cool, then cut into squares of your desired size.

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