Cannabutter Recipe - Wax & Flower Versions

Homemade cannabutter is the easiest solution for dispensary customers who want stronger edibles than what we’re legally allowed to sell in Seattle, WA. You can use this cannabutter to make cannabis edibles ranging from cookies and brownies to fried chicken. I have come up with a quick solution to help make some potent cannabutter from products we carry. The entire process takes only 40 minutes from start to finish.

Cannabutter (cannabis butter) is regular butter that has been intentionally infused with cannabis. You can make cannabutter with cannabis flower or a cannabis extract like wax or rosin. The wax-based recipe is the easiest and quickest way to make cannabutter. However, some folks prefer cannabutter made with cannabis flower, so we’ll include both recipes here.

Wax-Based Cannabutter Recipe

This cannabutter recipe uses a ready-made cannabis concentrate like wax or rosin.

What You Will Need:

• Grill tongs

• A bottle of vegetable oil

• A thermometer

• 2 grams of wax (I like using Omega Honeycomb Wax)

• A Pyrex jar or beaker (something that won't break)

• Two sticks of unsalted butter or an equivalent amount of olive oil/coconut oil

Step One: Heat the Vegetable Oil

On the stovetop, fill the saucepan with vegetable oil and raise temp to 250°F but not higher than 275°F using your thermometer. (At no point in the process can the temp go higher than 300°F.)

Step Two: Decarboxylate the Wax

Place the wax into the glass beaker and use tongs to submerge the beaker 1/2 inch deep in oil. Hold this here for 25-30 min. The wax will start to bubble, this is a good sign. You will know it is ready when the bubbles go from big to very small and then almost stop. Remove from heat after 30 min.

Step Three: Infuse the Butter

Melt the two sticks of butter and pour into the glass beaker with wax. Whisk together until the wax and melted butter are well mixed. All of this should be done while the material is still warm.

Step Four: Store and Chill

Pour the infused butter into a storage container and chill. To understand the potency of the weed butter you have just made, take the total THC percentage of the initial wax you used. For example, two grams of wax testing at 82.2% put into two sticks of butter would give you a total butter concentrate of 1,644mg. Each tablespoon would contain 102.75mg THC.

How to Make Cannabutter with Flower

Cannabutter made with cannabis flower is the most traditional cannabutter recipe and probably the most well-known. It takes a little longer to make because the cannabis plant material needs time to infuse into the butter after it has been decarboxylated.

What You Will Need:

Materials and tools

• A baking tray lined with a baking sheet

• A slow cooker, crock pot, or saucepan

• Cheesecloth or a mesh strainer

• A cannabis grinder (optional)

• A heat-resistant storage container

Ingredients

• 2 sticks of butter (unsalted)

• 1 cup of ground cannabis (around 7 to 10 grams)

• 1 cup of water

Step One: Decarboxylate the Cannabis

Raw cannabis flower needs to be decarboxylated in order to “activate” the non-intoxicating THCA and convert it into THC. 

1. Preheat the oven to 245ºF.

2. Place broken-up cannabis flower on the baking sheet (on the baking tray). 

3. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, turning the pieces every 10 to 15 minutes to cook them evenly.

4. Remove the tray from the oven when the buds are lightly browned.

Step Two: Grind the Decarbed Cannabis

Use the cannabis grinder or your hands to break your weed pieces into smaller pieces of a similar size. Don’t grind the cannabis into a fine powder because this will lead to “green” tasting cannabis plant matter in your cannabutter.

Step Three: Infuse the Butter

Now you can infuse cannabis into the butter. 

1. Melt the butter on low heat and add the cup of water. The water helps to keep the butter from burning. 

2. Carefully place the ground cannabis in the hot butter-and-water mixture. 

3. Simmer the mixture on minimum heat for two to three hours, stirring occasionally. Stirring helps to ensure the active components of the plant material are dispersed as evenly as possible throughout the butter. It’s important not to let the butter boil. 

Step Four: Strain, Refrigerate, and Separate

1. Use the mesh strainer and/or cheesecloth to strain the infused butter-and-water mixture into the heat-resistant storage container. Don’t press or squeeze the cannabis plant matter as this will squeeze green-tasting chlorophyll into the cannabutter. 

2. Put the container in the fridge for the mixture to cool. 

3. Once the butter has solidified, pour off the separated water. 

Your cannabutter is ready!

Step Five: Calculate the Strength of Your Cannabutter

To calculate the amount of THC in your cannabutter:

1. Multiply the number of grams of cannabis by the percentage of THC it contains. This will give you the total number of grams of THC in your cannabutter.

2. Calculate the amount of THC in each dose.

1. If you cut your cannabutter into portions, divide the total number of grams of THC in the entire block by the number of portions. This will give you the approximate dosage of THC per portion. 

2. Divide the total THC content of the stick by the number of grams of butter in the stick. Multiply this number by 15 for the dose per flat tablespoon of cannabutter (1 metric tablespoon = 15 grams).

3. Multiply the number of grams by 1000 for the THC dosage expressed in milligrams.

How to Use Cannabutter

There are an infinite number of ways to use cannabutter in cooking. The following ideas will get you started:

• Make traditional homemade edibles such as brownies or chocolate chip cookies.

• Bake a cannabis-infused cake.

• Make buttery infused chocolates.

• Fry chicken, fish, or eggs in the cannabutter.

• Baste steamed vegetables, roasted vegetables, or jacket potatoes with cannabutter and your favorite herb blend.

• Mix a tiny amount of cannabutter with honey and eat it off the spoon (go easy on the quantity here!).

The best cannabutter recipes for you will depend on your taste preferences and health goals. 

Some people prefer to mask the cannabis taste by using the butter in sweet recipes like brownies. You can use wholemeal or gluten-free flour and less processed sugar like rapadura (panela) for baked goods that are slightly more nutritious.

Others don’t mind the taste of cannabutter or even enjoy it when mixed with other herbal flavors. In that case, adding it to your favorite savory recipes is a great way to go.

Enjoy Responsibly!

Making your own cannabutter using either of these recipes is an effective way to customize the strength, flavor, and ingredients of your edibles. Dispensaries in Washington State are limited to 10mg per edible and 100mg per packet for adult-use customers. But when you make your own edibles at home, there is no limit!

When eating homemade cannabutter and edibles, keep in mind that dosage may be inconsistent and there’s a greater risk of unsuspecting family members or visitors eating a piece (or several) without realizing it’s infused with cannabis. Keep the edibles appropriately labeled (“contains THC!”) and stored high up away from children, and enjoy them in small amounts.