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three brownies on parchment paper

three brownies on parchment paper

How to Make Pot Brownies (Best Recipe!)

High There

By High There

March 25, 2021

Few things in life are as good as a fresh, warm brownie straight out of the oven (preferably with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream nestled right into the top). But if you’re looking for something even better than that, how about the exact same delicious, moist & gooey brownie treat but with weed?

That’s right, in today’s article we’ll be delving into the classic pot brownie, potentially one of the most iconic hallmarks of stoner culture outside of the humble joint. Our recipe is tried, tested and guaranteed to deliver you one of the best cannabis brownies you’ve ever had – And we have a few special hacks and tricks that can help elevate your brownie game (pot or otherwise) to the next level. Let’s dig in.

High There’s Never-Fail Pot Brownie Recipe

Like it says in the title, this recipe never fails. If you want chewy, delicious cannabis brownies with just the right amount of crisp to the edges and a moist – but not doughy – center, you’ve come to the right place. Our brownie recipe is mostly cribbed from the great Katharine Hepburn (

), though with a few important differences (such as the addition of THC).

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup cannabutter; salted & cultured butter recommended
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
  • If using unsalted butter, 1 pinch of salt

Directions

Preheat your oven to 325°F / 162°C. While pre-heating, grease a 8×8 square-inch pan; this can be done with regular butter, oil, or cooking spray, but there’s no reason not to use more canna butter here as well.

Set a small saucepan over low heat and melt your cannabis butter. Once melted, whisk in your cocoa powder until completely smooth. Remove from the heat, transferring to a mixing bowl, and let cool until no longer scalding hot to the touch but still warm.

Working quickly, whisk in your eggs one at a time before stirring in your vanilla. Whisk until completely smooth.

In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients (including nuts & salt if desired). Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the cocoa/cannabutter/egg mixture. Stir until just combined – Do not over mix.

Pour your brownie mix into the greased pan before placing into the oven. Let bake for 30 to 35 minutes, checking the middle with a toothpick before removing. Do not over bake – The brownies should still be gooey on retrieval from the oven (they will continue to set as they cool).

Once completely cooled cut into squares; the brownies should be stored in an air-tight container or bag, to prevent both cannabinoid loss and staleness.

brownies on a plate

Can I Add Raw Cannabis Flower to My Brownie Batter Instead?

NO. Not to sound too emphatic but no, you cannot, do not do this, it is a terrible idea. There’s a classic depiction of pot brownies in old media which shows people just adding dried, ground cannabis flowers to a bunch of batter and baking it and that is how you waste bud.

We go over the importance of

and making infusions in our “” article (along with a bunch of other useful information, such as how much weed you need to bake a batch of brownies like these) so make sure to check it out, before you waste any of your marijuana.

Can I Use Cannabis Oil or Tinctures Instead?

Absolutely – Mixing your (already decarbed) cannabis flower oil or other extract directly into your batter works just as well as using cannabis butter. Of course, if wanting to use an extract, maybe only use regular butter rather than doubling up on your cannabis ratio.

Weed Brownies: Pro Hacks & Tricks

Again, our recipe above will not fail you; if you want some delicious THC-infused brownies, this is the way to go. But is there anything there that can be changed? Well, quite a few things, depending on what you’re looking for. Here’s some of our favorite modifications you can try to make this the best weed brownie for you:

Vegan Weed Brownies with Cannabis Coconut Oil

Skipping the animal products doesn’t mean your cannabis brownies have to suffer. Quite the opposite – We think the vegan substitutes for our pot brownie recipe make a delicious – albeit different – treat in it’s own right. To turn our brownie recipe into one of the best vegan desserts you’ve ever had, make the following substitutes/additions:

  • Substitute 1/2 cup cannabutter for 1/2 cup cannabis-infused coconut oil
  • Substitute 2 eggs for 1/3rd cup mashed, cooked sweet potato
  • Reduce sugar to 3/4ths cup
  • Add in 1 tsp soy or sunflower lecithin
  • Remember to add the pinch of salt

Substituting the cannabutter for infused coconut oil makes sense, but what about the sweet potato and lecithin? Eggs in the original recipe both provide a chewy moistness to the end product and also help to distribute the cannabinoids present in cannabutter – Without substitutes for the eggs, this recipe would produce dry, cakey brownies with an imbalanced distribution of THC (fixed by the presence of lecithin).

Sweet potatoes provide body & moistness but also sweetness and flavor; you may want to play with the amount of sugar to get the right level of sweetness for you, but reducing the amount of sugar in our above recipe to 3/4ths of a cup is a good start.

Completely Non-Vegan Weed Brownies with Bacon

What? Yes. Brownies and bacon go together like sea salt and caramel, and if you’ve never tried this delightful combination you’re in for a treat. This variation is pretty simple:

  • Add in 1/3rd cup chopped, cooked bacon
  • Grease pan with bacon fat left over from cooking said bacon
  • Use pecans as your nut choice, not walnuts (pecans play better with bacon’s flavors)
  • Use unsalted butter; don’t forgo the pinch of salt, however

The bacon bits add a chewy, salty explosion to the sweet richness of the brownie, and using the bacon fat leftover from cooking to grease the pan lends a subtle smokeyness to every bite that plays well with the “green” undertones cannabis brownies & other edibles can have.

Topping Your Brownies With Cannabis Ganache

A good ganache is heavenly, dirt simple, and Martha Stewart-level impressive to a crowd. To make a chocolate ganache for your pot brownies you only need two ingredients: Chocolate, and heavy cream . Any chocolate you’d like will work here as well; milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate and even rose chocolate) – What makes ganache, well, ganache is the ratio in which you combine them.

Traditionally, ganache is made with a 1:1 ratio of cream to chocolate; for our recipe, we recommend going just a slight bit heavier on chocolate than cream (which makes for a thicker ganache). To make enough for our recipe we use for 6 ounces of chocolate and 5 ounces of heavy cream.

Methodology is as simple as the ingredients: Chop your chocolate fine before placing in a mixing bowl. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat your cream over low heat until just beginning to simmer – If your cream begins to boil it can ruin your ganache, so keep an eye on it and remove it from the heat as soon as you see bubbles beginning to form around the edges of the pan.

Immediately pour the hot cream over your chocolate, letting it sit for a minimum of three minutes. After letting the two set stir to combine, whisking the mixture until completely smooth.

For your brownies, make sure to let them cool completely before applying your ganache – Adding an easily melted topping to a warm baked good is a drippy, runny disaster waiting to happen. After the ganache has likewise cooled and set, cut into squares as before; if you want to add some additional chopped nuts, mini chocolate chips, sprinkles, or anything of the sort, now would be the time.

And since you’re making weed brownies, how about weed ganache as well? Just substitute regular cream for

and your brownies will be supercharged with THC goodness. Of course, if you’re looking for a buzz of a different kind how about…

brownies with coffee beans

Coffee & Cannabis Brownies

Coffee and chocolate are a natural mix – The sharp bitter tones of coffee work well with the naturally bittersweet notes of chocolate, often being said to make chocolate flavor taste more, well, “chocolatey”.

To lift up your pot brownies with an additional kick of caffeine, just add in either 1 tablespoon instant coffee or 1.5 teaspoons of instant espresso powder – Espresso powder is much more supercharged with coffee flavor than regular instant coffee, so using less is best (unless you want the end recipe to be more “coffee brownies” than “chocolate brownies”, which isn’t a horrible idea).

Other Brownie Add-Ins?

There’s a temptation to load brownies down, adding in chocolate chips or marshmallows or even going a bit overboard with things like nuts. And that’s understandable – More is, well, more, right?

However. Heavier, richer add-ins like dark chocolate chips can end up weighing down your batter, leading to a denser, more dough-like consistency; not gooey in a good way. Likewise with marshmallows, which can lead to very tasty dessert treats (rocky road bars, anyone?), but can also melt into baked goods, essentially becoming another ingredient in the batter and altering it’s taste/texture.

Our listed addons (nuts, bacon) are both very dry, meaning they won’t melt out into the batter as the brownies cook. Though other add-ins can be experimented with, such as dried fruits or other nuts, we recommend keeping most additions as a topping rather than an inclusion. With our ganache recipe above, once frosted the brownies will hold almost any topping you can think of, letting you experiment with flavors and textures as much as you’d like without compromising the texture of your brownie.

How Long do Weed Brownies Stay in Your System?

So you’ve eaten your square of delicious ganache-covered brownie and are sitting there wondering… now what? Well, depending on your metabolism and a whole bunch of other factors your individual experience coming up (and coming down) from edibles may differ from those around you.

A general rule is to expect about a 45 minute wait before you feel anything, and around a six-to-eight hour trip, but this will vary from person to person. Make sure to check out our article “

” to understand more about how long a cannabis brownie and other cannabis edibles will keep you high.

And if you’re worried about the side effects of weed brownies? Well, first off, try to relax –

if you’re having a rough time can be tricky, but a clear head and a few deep breaths will do a lot to help calm both body and mind.

We hope you’ve enjoyed today’s article – With or without the cannabis, we guarantee our brownie recipe will make a stellar treat every single time (after all, if it was good enough for Katharine Hepburn, it’s good enough for us), and with the cannabutter (or coconut oil) added into the mix? These brownies will be a dessert to remember. Just always remember to enjoy your cannabis edibles in moderation – Happy munching!

High There

About The Author

High There

HIGH THERE MISSION

WE’RE A CREATIVE COMMUNITY — EXPLORING THE SCIENCE, CRAFT, AND CULTURE OF CANNABIS.
WE BELIEVE THAT WE HAVE A COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS ERADICATING THE STIGMA, MISINFORMATION, AND INEQUITIES SURROUNDING THIS PLANT, SO WE CAN UNLOCK ITS TRUE POTENTIAL FOR ALL.