How To Make The Best Plant-Based Cannabutter & Your Own Cannabis-Infused Coconut Oil
Making edibles at home has always been one of the most fun and memorable experiences of any cannabis lover's journey. With so many people converting to vegan and plant-based lifestyles, it's about time that a plant-based alternative to cannabutter was put out on the market. While we wait for that, here's an easy guide on how to make your own plant-based and fully vegan cannabutter from the comfort of your own home!
What’s The Purpose Of Plant-Based Cannabutter?
If you want to start ingesting your cannabis instead of smoking it or make some nice baked goods for a get-together with friends, it's essential to use cannabutter in all of your recipes. However, it's not as simple as just sprinkling some bud in with your food, as THC has to be activated in certain ways to react with your endocannabinoid system. Cannabutter, and in our case, plant-based cannabutter, is the necessary component for making any type of edible.
Butter Substitutes For Vegan Cannabutter
If you're someone who’s lactose intolerant or follows a vegan lifestyle, cannabutter may not be on the cards for you. Luckily, there are many plant-based alternatives to butter that can be substituted and still work as a viable ingredient when making edibles. Coconut oil is the best substitute for butter when making a vegan cannabutter recipe, as it’s heat-resistant, high in fat (which is great for binding), and won't burn as you infuse it. It’s also the healthiest alternative to milk-based butter.
Vegan Cannabutter Recipe
Before you begin making your edibles or messing with any of your other ingredients, make sure you have some cannabis-infused coconut oil on hand. The process of making vegan edibles, when including the time it takes to make a plant-based cannabutter, is quite long, but once you have that batch of plant-based cannabutter, the possibilities of how to eat it will be endless.
Ingredients For Plant-Based Cannabutter
The specific amounts of ingredients you’ll need will largely depend on the recipe you're working with and how strong you want your edibles to be. For our purposes, let's just use 1-cup measurements (or 112 grams) to make one cup of basic vegan cannabutter. You will need:
- Coconut oil
- Decarbed cannabis (for 1 cup of coconut oil, you’ll want to use a maximum of a half-ounce, or 14 grams, of cannabis)
- 1 teaspoon of sunflower lecithin (optional)
Step One: Decarbing Your Cannabis
Before you begin mixing your ingredients, you’ll need to make sure that your cannabis is decarboxylated. This is a process of activating the THC molecules in cannabis by exposing them to heat over a long period of time. In order to cause any effect once it's ingested, THCA in raw weed needs to be turned into psychoactive THC by heat. Put simply, THCA from raw weed won’t make you high, so we decarb it to ingest THC instead. You can read more about how to decarb your weed at home here.
Step Two: Infusing The Coconut Oil
Once your weed has been decarbed, you can now use it to make cannabis-infused coconut oil. Take your one cup of coconut oil with your desired amount of cannabis (and 1 teaspoon of lecithin to help bind the THC with the oil) in a deep saucepan, and let it simmer on your stovetop on the lowest heat setting for 4-6 hours, stirring constantly every 20 to 30 minutes. Some cannabutter connoisseurs even suggest letting your cannabis simmer for 8 hours to make sure all the THC has been extracted. The most important thing is to stir constantly to prevent burning.
Step Three: Straining Your Infused Oil
Once your cannabis and coconut oil has simmered for at least 4-6 hours and the ingredients have gotten to know each other, it's time to strain the cannabis flower out of the oil for a smooth and consistent cannabis-infused coconut oil. Slowly pour the substrate through a cheesecloth into a brownie-sized baking dish or a mason jar; this will ensure there are no bits of cannabis flower left in the infused coconut oil.
Step Four: Let Cool And It's Ready to Use!
Let your infused oil cool completely before adding it to whatever recipe you choose. Letting your oil cool will give the THC molecules time to relax and fully bind to the coconut oil. Once your infused coconut oil has cooled, it's ready to use and be added to whatever type of meal you choose to turn into edibles!
How Strong Is My Plant-Based Cannabutter?
The strength of your vegan cannabutter will vary significantly based on the strain you decide to use. Different strains have different levels of THC and CBD, so the type of high you want from your edibles will largely depend on the type of cannabis you decide to use and whether that cannabis is higher in THC or CBD. For example, a strain of marijuana with 15% THC has about 150mg of THC per 1 gram of cannabis, while a 20% THC strain contains 200mg of THC per 1 gram of cannabis, and so on. Keep this in mind when you’re choosing a strain specifically to bake with.
Is Plant-Based Cannabutter As Good As Regular Butter?
Although using a plant-based cannabutter like cannabis coconut oil might cause a different taste in a recipe that calls for the use of butter, coconut oil is just as effective in giving you all the effects as a regular cannabutter. For example, coconut oil does the trick of fusing with cannabis just as good as regular butter, and you don't have to worry about losing any of the THC or potency of your edibles.
Ways To Use Vegan Cannabis Butter
There are so many ways you can now use your very own, homemade canna-oil! One of the most classic stoner treats you can make yourself is a batch of good old-fashioned pot brownies, which you can check out on our website here! You can’t go wrong with brownies, and our recipe is sure to get you baked (pun intended). If you’re looking for a different kind of dessert, try our delicious cupcake recipe (or muffins, if you’re not really into frosting). The beauty of having premade cannabutter is that you can add it to virtually any food and get a little buzz from it. Try it out with your next meal and just see how much more delicious it is!
Get In The Kitchen And Start Baking!
Now that you know how to make your own vegan cannabutter and cannabis coconut oil, it's time to get in the kitchen and put it to good use! Whether you just want to chill out with friends or are looking to edibles as an alternative to smoking marijuana, this recipe is sure to help in your day-to-day life. Let us know in the comments what delicious goodies you decide to whip up with our recipe!
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