How to Make Cannabis-Infused Junk Food Cookies

Cookies are one of the best baked goods. They are easy to hold in one hand. They’re individual-sized, so you don’t have to share. Most importantly, cookies are full of delicious, creamy butter fat, making them an excellent vehicle for cannabis infusion. It’s also very easy to add additional flavors and mixins to cookies in order to cover up the “green” flavor many associate with cannabis edibles and infused foods.  

Junk food cookies are a fun take on traditional cannabis chocolate chip cookies. Before we jump into our marijuana cookie recipe, let’s go over how to prepare these gooey edibles’ most important ingredient: cannabis.

1. Preparing Your Cannabis
   1. Best Strains for Cookies
   2. Decarbing Process
   3. Dosing Calculation
2. How to Infuse Cookies With Cannabis
   1. Why Are Fats the Best for Cooking Cannabis Edibles?
   2. Additional Infusion Methods
3. Cannabis-Infused Junk Food Cookie Recipe
   1. Nutrition Facts and How Much Time to Budget
   2. Ingredients
   3. Tools
   4. Directions
4. How to Make Cannabis Cookies Without an Oven
5. Tips for Cannabis Cookie Storage
6. Final Takeaway

Preparing Your Cannabis

The first step to making cannabis cookies is preparing your cannabis for infusion. This includes picking a strain, decarboxylating your flower, and calculating your dosage. 

Best Strains for Cookies

Deciding which strain to use can feel like an overwhelming process when it comes to making infused desserts and other foods. The best course of action as a newbie is to choose a strain that makes you feel good when you’ve consumed it in other ways. If the flower you want to use is also new to you, make sure to first give your flower an old-fashioned try (either rolled or packed into the smoking apparatus of your choice). 

If you have a little more experience with cannabis, focus more heavily on terpene profiles rather than strain type (indica, sativa, or hybrid) when shopping for the perfect strain for your cookies. While indica and sativa are quickly becoming outdated identifiers, terpenes are gaining attention for their role in a strain’s flavor and bodily effects. If you’re anxiety-prone, look for strains high in terpenes like linalool. If you’re looking for a sleep aid, seek out strains with myrcene. 

Decarbing Process

Decarboxylation is a simple process that activates cannabinoids in cannabis flower and concentrates. Using heat, typically in an oven, you can transform the inactive THCA molecules into THC. With more time and/or more heat, you can also convert it to the milder, sedating cannabinoid CBN.

It’s super important to decarb cannabis flower for edibles because it activates the compounds that you want to infuse, maximizes the infusion potential, and will cut down on your infusion time. Additionally, decarbing cannabis flower means that it can be used as is without the need for any other processes or tools, expanding your culinary possibilities.

To decarb your flower, preheat your oven to 240 F and bake your cannabis on a covered baking sheet for about 40 minutes. To preserve the terpenes, it is important to cover the baking sheet with tin foil and leave it covered until the sheet cools down completely. For tips and more information on this process, check out this guide to decarboxylation. 

Dosing Calculation

One important step in making great cannabis-infused cookies is figuring out your dose. You can use a calculator, like this one. You can also use a home potency testing device, like one of these. Or you can do the math yourself. 

To do the math, you will first need to know your cannabis’ THC or CBD percentage (this information is generally provided on dispensary packaging). If you’re unsure, you can estimate. Medium-grade flower will usually have around 12%-16% THC, while premium flower will be more in the 17% to 30% range.

As an example, let’s say your flower has 15% THC. Multiply 15 by 10 and you get 150. That means in every gram of flower, there are about 150 milligrams of THC. You most likely won’t get the full 150 milligrams infused into the fat, but it gives you a good starting point. 

Once you’ve figured out that much, just multiply that number by the total grams you plan to use in your infusion and divide that by the number of servings in your final recipe. In the cannabis cookie recipe below, you’ll make about 13 large cookies—if you want to make 10-milligram cookies, you will only need 1 gram of flower. To make 100-milligram cookies, you will need 10 grams of flower. 

One more note on dosing: If you don’t know the THC content of your flower and you have less experience with edibles, estimate it to be on the higher end of the scale. You can always eat more as you go for a stronger high, but there’s no going back if you eat too much.

How to Infuse Cookies With Cannabis

Once you’ve activated your cannabis via decarboxylation and measured out your desired dosage, it’s time to infuse one of the recipe’s ingredients. Infusing the butter is the most popular and effective method for packing your cookies with cannabinoids, but there is a variety of options to choose from.

Why Are Fats the Best for Cooking Cannabis Edibles?

One reason to choose butter, or another fat like coconut oil, for your infusion base is that butter and cannabis are both hydrophobic. That means they repel water, but it also means that the two can combine and be emulsified together.

While there are multiple ways to infuse your cookies with cannabis, infusing the fat of your recipe should be your first choice. And for the best tasting ones, you should use European style, or cultured, butter. The fat content is high and the flavor is phenomenal. To make cannabutter, follow this recipe. Keep in mind that the cannabutter can take 3-4 hours to prepare, so you may want to get it ready the day before you make your cookies. 

For a dairy-free alternative, consider replacing the butter with vegetable shortening or vegan ghee. Whatever you choose, you want a replacement that is as structurally close to butter as possible. While the obvious benefit is that THC is fat-soluble and butter is high in fat, butter also plays an integral role in creating the most irresistibly chewy and delicious cookies. 

Additional Infusion Methods 

Infused butter is ideal for this recipe, but you can also prepare the following infused ingredients. For stronger edibles, you can even prepare multiple infused ingredients—just be mindful of THC content. 

• Using cannabis coconut oil: Cannabis-infused coconut oil is a good choice as it’s high in fat and stays somewhat solid, like butter. It’s also vegan-friendly. However, you may notice the cookie spreads more while baking or doesn’t have quite the right texture. 
• Using cannasugar: You can make cannabis-infused sugar by mixing an alcohol-based tincture with sugar and allowing the alcohol to evaporate from the mixture in an oven at a low temperature or on the countertop with time.
• Using cannaflour: Cannaflour is probably the fastest and easiest infusion you can make for this recipe. You can infuse flour by blending it with finely ground, decarboxylated cannabis, but the downside to cannabis flour is that the “green” flavor may be more prominent than with other infusions. 
• Using concentrates: You can also replace your flower with concentrates when making cannabutter or cannaoil. Not only is it a time-saver, but it also gives you more control and a guaranteed dose. Depending on the concentrate type (like distillate or RSO), you may not even need to decarboxylate. Once decarbed (if needed), it’s just a matter of melting down the butter or oil, adding the concentrate, and blending fully.

Cannabis-Infused Junk Food Cookie Recipe

Before diving into this recipe, make sure to have your cannabis-infused ingredient(s) ready to go. It’s ideal to prepare your infused ingredients at least a day in advance to ensure that the cannabutter has cooled and resolidified or the alcohol has completely evaporated from the cannasugar. Cannaflour, however, can be used immediately after creation. 

Nutrition Facts and How Much Time to Budget

This recipe makes about 13 large cookies. The serving size is one cookie.

As long as your infused ingredients have already been prepared, this recipe should take about 4 hours from start to finish. This includes 30 minutes to prepare the dough, 3 hours of chill time in the fridge, and 10 to 15 minutes to bake. While it’s not crucial to chill the dough, doing so will lead to much better cookies. 

Ingredients

• 1 stick of regular butter* (113 grams)
• 1 stick of cannabutter* (112 grams)
• 1 cup + 3 tablespoons white sugar or cannasugar (250 grams)
• ¾ cup light brown sugar (150 grams)
• 1-2 tablespoons milk** (15-30 grams)
• 1 large egg
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (2 grams)
• 1 ½ cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour or cannaflour (260 grams)
• ½ teaspoon baking powder (2 grams)
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda (1.5 grams)
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt (2 grams) 
• ½ cup wavy chips or another salty snack (65 grams) (optional)
• ¾ cup chocolate chips or another chocolatey snack (125 grams) (optional)
• ½ cup mini marshmallows (65 grams) (optional)

*It is best to use a mix of cannabis butter and regular butter when making baked goods. Infusing butter often includes a loss of some milk solids and water from the butter, both of which are needed for moisture and flavor in the final cookie. No matter what ratio of cannabutter to butter you choose to incorporate, make sure you use a total of 2 sticks of butter (or 225 grams). 

**The milk is to compensate for the moisture loss in the cannabutter. You should add the full 2 tablespoons (30 grams) if you’re only using cannabutter (or if you live in a dry climate). Add 1 tablespoon (15 grams) if using a mix of regular butter and cannabutter.

Tools

• Kitchen scale, gem scale, or measuring cups and spoons
• Standing mixer or hand mixer and large mixing bowl
• Spatula
• Cookie scoop (2.75-ounce size)
• Baking/cookie sheet
• Parchment paper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2. Add room temperature butter, cannabutter, and both sugars to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat with a paddle attachment for 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add milk, egg, and vanilla extract. Beat for another 7-10 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed until the mixture is homogeneous, lighter in color, and there are no visible streaks of any one particular ingredient. 
3. While the butter, sugar, and eggs are mixing, measure the rest of your dry ingredients in a separate large bowl (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt). Make sure to mix them together well so there aren’t any areas of salt or baking soda/powder concentration.
4. Once the wet ingredients are fully combined, add the flour mixture in. Set the mixer on low and stop as soon as the flour is mixed in and there are no dry spots or flour heavy spots (about one minute).
5. Add the mixins to the bowl of your mixer. For the cookies pictured in this article, there are bite-sized wavy potato chip pieces, chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows. Mix on low speed until fully incorporated (about one minute).
6. Using a 2.75-ounce cookie or ice cream scoop, or a ⅓ cup measuring cup, scoop the cookie dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Wrap the sheet with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours (up to overnight). NOTE: Dough can be frozen for up to 3 months if wrapped tightly and stored in an airtight, freezer-safe container.
7. Make sure your cookies have plenty of space to spread on the sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes (or until the edges are starting to turn golden brown and most of the cookie looks baked, but the very center of the top of the cookie looks a little bit wet). PRO TIP: Bake one cookie on its own as a tester before you do the entire batch. That way you can test for hot spots in your oven and nail down the bake time. 
8. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes before moving them from the sheet to a cooling rack if you have one. Otherwise, just let them cool completely on the sheet before moving them to an airtight container.

How to Make Cannabis Cookies Without an Oven

To make infused cookie dough that you can eat without baking, you’ll follow the same recipe with some omitted ingredients and one additional step. 

First, you’ll want to heat treat the flour in your microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until the internal temperature hits 165 F. Then you’ll follow the recipe above mostly as written, omitting the egg and adding a little more milk until the consistency is right. You can chill the dough in smaller, bite-sized pieces that are perfect for smaller or daytime doses. 

Tips for Cannabis Cookie Storage

To store your cookies, keep them in an airtight container away from light and excess heat. They will keep well for about a week. If this is a personal batch of cookies, it’s best to only bake what you might eat in a day or two and keep the rest of the dough wrapped tightly in your freezer. They only take a few minutes to bake, so you might as well eat them fresh, right? Right.

Final Takeaway

Making cannabis-infused cookies is a fun way to ingest your favorite plant either medicinally or recreationally, and the recipe possibilities are endless. Whether you infuse the flour, sugar, or butter, you’re sure to find a method that works for you.

Remember to start slowly when consuming cannabis edibles and work your way up to higher doses. If you do ingest too much, don’t panic—check out these 12 methods to counteract the effects of THC. Most importantly, enjoy the edible-making experience and make sure to celebrate when you take that first bite. Happy baking!