How To Make Cannabis Sugar

Cannabis has earned itself a special place in the kitchen. Whether you prefer to add it to sweet classics like brownies or savoury delicacies like butter chicken, there are countless ways to infuse your favourite dishes with a healthy dose of bud.

Until now, one of the most common ways to use weed in the kitchen was to incorporate infused butter or oil. But now, cannabis chefs have come up with a new way to cook with weed; cannabis sugar.

Here’s how to make it.

COOKING WITH WEED: SOME BASICS

Before we show you how to make cannabis sugar, it’s important to cover some basics on cooking with cannabis.

One of the most important steps to cooking with weed is decarboxylation. It basically involves baking weed at a low heat for roughly 35-40 minutes. This helps convert some of the THCA (basically an acidic, non-psychoactive compound found in live cannabis plant material) to THC, the active psychoactive compound that gets you stoned. After all, that’s why you’re here, right?

The most important factor for proper decarboxylation is heat. The heat essentially breaks down precursor THCA to THC. Whenever decarboxylating cannabis, make sure to keep your oven temperature at 120°C/250°F max. Any higher and you risk degrading THC and losing potency.

HOW TO MAKE WEED SUGAR

Weed sugar is the perfect way to liven up any of your favourite sweet recipes. Here’s how to make cannabis sugar at home.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 grams cannabis
• 120ml high-proof alcohol, such as Everclear
• 100g granulated sugar

METHOD

1. Roughly grind/chop your weed to a coarse consistency. Spread it out on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake at 120°C/250°F for 35-40 minutes. Make sure your temperature never exceeds this limit.
2. Reduce the oven heat to 93°C/200°F. Transfer your decarboxylated weed to a jar and cover with alcohol. Screw the lid on the jar, making sure it is tight and secure.
3. Shake the jar every 5 minutes for 20 minutes total. Strain the liquid through some cheesecloth into a clean bowl. Discard the solid plant matter.
4. Mix sugar into the strained alcohol solution. Spread evenly into a glass baking dish. Bake at 93°C/200°F, stirring regularly until the alcohol has evaporated and the sugar has a golden colour.

USING MARIJUANA SUGAR

You can use weed sugar like you would regular sugar. Here are some ideas on how to use cannabis sugar in your kitchen:

• Stir into coffee or your favourite tea 
• Sweeten your morning porridge
• Make cannabis-infused syrup for cocktails and drinks 
• Mix it with cinnamon and sprinkle on donuts or churros 
• Use it to replace sugar in your favourite dessert recipes