Spooky season is in full swing, and we’ve rounded up a few of our favorite ghoulish, ganja-infused goodies and eerie Halloween edibles that are a real treat for your tricked-out taste buds.
A Note About Dosage
Before you jump into making your own edibles, it’s important to understand dosage and potency. One of the benefits of mixing up your own recipes is that you can control how much you’re ingesting. But that means you need to carefully weigh and portion out your ingredients to ensure accurate amounts, especially if you plan to serve these treats to guests as part of a spooky celebration spread.
A good rule of thumb is to aim for 5mg of THC per serving, per person (less for beginners). You can always scale up from there once you become familiar with the effects.
The formula for calculating the proper dosage of a dish is as follows:
[total flower g] x 1000 = [total flower mg]
[total flower mg] x [% THC] = [total potential THC mg]
[total potential THC mg] x [0.7 percent efficiency] = [total THC mg in infusion]
To calculate the total THC mg per infusion, divide the total THC by the number of servings in your recipe. If you’re making ten brownies, for example, your formula would look like this:
300 mg ÷ 10 = 30 mg of THC per brownie.
The cannabis strain you purchased will have its exact THC concentration displayed on the bag as a percentage. You can also usually estimate that you’ll lose about 30% of this potency to the cooking process. If these calculations aren’t your thing, you can use a dosing calculator.
Now, let’s jump to it. Don’t be scared — only good vibes creeping in.
Ghostly Ghouls and Gummies
Who doesn’t love the ease and convenience of a weed gummy? We used Corinne Tobias’ recipe from Wake + Bake and gave it a ghoulish twist.
This recipe calls for a THC cannabis concentrate like rosin or hash, but if you’d prefer the effects of CBD concentrates like hemp oil, feel free to make the swap.
Equipment
- Saucepan
- Whisk
- Dropper
- Halloween-themed silicone mold
Ingredients
1 cup Juice (like grape or tart cherry)
3 tbsp Gelatin
1 tbsp Lemon juice
2 tbsp Honey or pure maple syrup
0.25-0.5 g Decarboxylated Bubble Hash, Rosin or other concentrate
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine the juice and gelatin. Allow the gelatin to bloom.
- Put the mixture in a saucepan with the juice and gelatin over medium-low heat.
- Once warm but not boiling, whisk in the lemon juice, honey or maple syrup if using, and your Cannabis.
- Keep whisking until smooth, and all ingredients are incorporated. Turn off the heat.
- Using a dropper, fill your spooky silicone mold with the mixture.
- Cool for about 20 minutes in the fridge.
Up the Fright Factor
- Use blood orange juice as your base for a deep red color.
- Add in fall flavors like a pinch of cinnamon or ginger.
- For a tart, sour candy effect, add a small amount of citric acid to the mixture (around 1/4 tsp). After the gummies have set, lightly dust them with a mix of citric acid and powdered sugar for a sour bite.
Bewitching Brownies
For these beguiling bites, we’ve baked up our own spooky version of these Cheesecake Marijuana Brownies from CannabisCheri.com.
Ingredients
Brownie Layer
- 1/2 C cannabis-infused butter
- 1/8 C butter
- 4 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate
- 1/2 C all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 C granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Cheesecake Layer
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 1/4 C granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp cream or milk
- Orange food coloring
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil and grease foil with either butter or vegetable shortening.
- Melt the cannabutter, butter and chocolate over low heat in a medium saucepan, stirring frequently. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
- Stir together the flour and salt; set aside.
- Stir the sugar into the melted cannabutter until well combined.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla and continue mixing until well incorporated.
- Mix in the flour and salt until just incorporated.
- Reserve 1/2 C of the brownie batter and spread the remainder into the prepared pan.
- Prepare cheesecake batter by beating cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth.
- Beat in sugar, vanilla extract, cream or milk, and orange food coloring. Continue to beat until smooth and well combined.
- Spread cheesecake batter evenly over brownie batter in the pan.
- Using a spoon, place dollops of the reserved brownie batter over the cheesecake batter.
- Use a wooden skewer or the tip of a knife to swirl the dollops of brownie batter into the cheesecake batter. (Try a spiderweb-inspired pattern for an added Halloween twist.)
- Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it.
- Let cool in the pan before using the foil to lift out the brownies and slice. For the best presentation, wipe the knife off between cuts.
Up the Fright Factor
- Add 1 tsp of pumpkin spice to the dry ingredients for a fall-inspired flavor.
- For a Mexican hot chocolate twist, add a pinch of cinnamon and cayenne pepper to the brownie batter for a warm, spicy kick.
- Add crushed candy corn to the batter or sprinkle on top before baking for a classic Halloween candy flavor.
Monster Munchie Popcorn
If you can make homemade popcorn, you can make this monster mashup that will both create and cure the munchies. The key is cannabis butter.
Ingredients
- 1/2 C popcorn kernels
- 3 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tbsp cannabutter
- Candy corn or other Halloween candy mix-ins
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot or saucepan, heat the coconut oil over medium heat. To test if the oil is hot enough, drop in a couple of popcorn kernels. Once they pop, the oil is ready.
- Add the rest of the popcorn kernels to the pot, covering it with a lid. Shake the pot to ensure even popping and to prevent the kernels from burning. Once the popping slows down significantly, remove the pot from heat.
- Drizzle melted cannabutter over the popped popcorn, tossing to ensure even coating.
- Once cool, add in a handful or two of candy corn or other candy mix-ins.
Up the Fright Factor
- Make your own fall-flavored popcorn seasoning with a mix of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
- Mix maple syrup with cannabutter and drizzle on for an added hint of sweetness.
- Melt orange and purple candy melts, and drizzle on top of the popcorn just after the butter step.
As Always, Snack Responsibly
As with any sweet treat, it’s easy to overindulge. When it comes to cannabis-infused goodies, though, you really can have too much of a good thing. Be mindful of dosage when cooking, and monitor your intake after the fact.
And, of course, always keep edibles out of reach of children and pets.