Preparing edibles doesn’t have to be that complicated, especially when using ingredients you likely already have in your kitchen.

Preparing edibles is usually a process that takes some time and work. Unlike lighting a joint and reaping instant benefits, edibles demand a lot of care. If your edibles taste awful (here’s how to make them taste less like weed), you’ve just wasted a good amount of cannabis, which is not fun. Fortunately, we have some tips for you so this doesn’t happen.

In order to prepare edibles, it’s important to start off slowly. Cooking tends to be a trial and error process; once you add cannabis into the mix, it’s even more personal and less accurate. Before preparing any edible, you must decarboxylate. If you skip this step, your brownies are going to taste just like raw cannabis (read as: they’re gonna suck).

With the rise in baking and cooking that many of us have been experiencing in lockdown, it’s a great time to experiment with making your own edibles.

Cannabutter

Photo by ponce_photography via Pixabay

Cannabutter is the basis of most edibles, especially the really good ones. This is where the concentration of weed is, so it’s kind of the most important part of the process. We suggest preparing a good batch of cannabutter ahead of time and to refrigerate it afterwards, so you can use it for preparing other edibles. You can also add it on some toast if you want to have a fun morning. It’s 2020, go for it.

Firecrackers

Photo by Scott Akerman/Flickr

Firecrackers are a stoner staple, primarily because they’re super easy to make and also because they taste like peanut butter. To prepare them, you only need peanut butter, graham crackers and decarboxylated weed. Coat the graham crackers with a good amount of peanut butter — the fattier the better — and sprinkle in about half a gram of ground flower per serving. Make sure the weed and the peanut butter are evenly mixed. Wrap your cracker in tin foil. Pre-heat your oven to 320 degrees and let the crackers cook for about 25 minutes.

If you want to be safe and get a taste for flavor and dosage before you dive in, measure your weed and prep two versions of firecrackers — one with a high dosage and another one with a low dose. You can also cut the cracker into four and eat each piece slowly, keeping track of how you feel.

Bacon

Photo by Tvzsu via rawpixel.com

Bacon is delicious, but what makes it a great weed partner is the fact that it’s greasy and has a strong flavor that can sort of mask marijuana’s natural essence. You can get creative with your weed bacon by cooking it with a touch of cannabutter or baking it with some decarboxylated weed.

Ice cream

Photo by Markus Spiske via Unsplash

Weed ice cream is a little more elaborate than weed bacon and firecrackers. There are different ways to make marijuana infused ice cream — there are some great recipes out there — but the most basic one is to melt heavy cream and cannabutter and to mix them together. As they cook and combine, add sugar according to taste. This mixture can be tinkered with until you have something you like. You can incorporate nuts, fruits, cereals, and whatever else that sounds good to you. Freeze overnight.

Brownies

Photo by skeeze via Pixabay.

Weed brownies are very malleable, which makes them so popular. You can make them by using your favorite recipe and replacing the butter with cannabutter, or you can make one of the many recipes that weed chefs have uploaded online. Or you can just make regular brownies and drizzle a bit of cannabutter over them while they’re warm. This last method is a little conservative but it ensures that you have control over your high and don’t ruin a perfectly decent batch of brownies. (Looking for more inspo? Try the only pot brownie recipe you’ll ever need.)