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Recipes: How to Make Cannabis-Infused Maple Syrup

Recipes: How to Make Cannabis-Infused Maple Syrup

Published on 10/6/22

As summer winds down, we all get a hankering for our favorite fall flavors. From pumpkin spice lattes to caramel-covered apples, the autumnal season goes hand-in-hand with sweet, comforting treats. One of the star ingredients of many of these treats is the tree-tapped classic maple syrup.

While these fall favorites are undoubtedly delicious enough on their own, everything is better with a bit of cannabutter in it. Read on for our full recipe to learn how to make classic cannabis-infused maple syrup - and our favorite Bourbon Butter Pecan version.

Why Maple Syrup?

While often deemed a breakfast essential, maple syrup also acts as a natural sweetener in meals any time of the day - from roasted vegetables to mouth-watering pies. Whether your meal is sweet or savory, maple syrup makes a great addition to any recipe. It's also already a staple in many autumnal snacks like maple candies, pumpkin pancakes, and glazed donuts.

Additionally, maple syrup may be an excellent choice for people seeking a sweetener with a lower glycemic index score - meaning it doesn't spike blood sugar as quickly as a traditional sweetener like refined sugar. These health benefits make maple syrup a great natural choice for those with diabetes or anyone looking to regulate their blood sugar levels.

How to Get Started

Making your own cannabis-infused maple syrup at home is easier than you'd expect, and all you'll need are the two titular ingredients and a little fat for the THC to stick to cannabis, maple syrup, and butter. To take your infusion to the next level, we'll also share how to make our favorite Bourban Butter Pecan Cannabis Maple Syrup. With a few simple steps of decarboxylation, fat infusion, straining your cannabutter and mixing your syrup, you'll have a potent sweetener to turn all of your favorite fall treats into edibles.

Tips on Dosing

The process of correctly dosing your edibles is the most critical first step in making any cannabis-infused recipe at home. If you're sharing with friends especially, your responsibility as the chef is to have the correct information on what you're consuming. Where's Weed has in-depth guide on how to dose your edibles at home for your reference any time here. Dosing, like baking, is an exact science, so you can never be too careful by starting low-dose and consuming your treats slowly. Keep in mind what you'll be using your infusion for, too - we love to drown our pancakes and waffles in syrup, so if you want to maintain your quantity, consider going lighter on the strength.

How to Make Cannabis-Infused Maple Syrup

Ingredient List

  • Cannabis: 3.5 - 7 g (depending on dose)
  • Butter: 1 stick
  • Maple Syrup: 1 cup (8 fl oz)
  • Pecans*: 1/2 cup, coarsely chopped
  • Bourbon*: 3 oz
  • Vanilla Extract*: 1 tablespoon

*Include these ingredients for Bourbon Butter Pecan Cannabis-Infused Maple Syrup

What You'll Need

  • Baking Sheet
  • Parchment Paper
  • Sauce Pot
  • French Press or Heat-safe bowl
  • Cheesecloth
  • Funnel
  • Jar

Steps

Decarb Your Cannabis

The first step in creating any marijuana-infused recipe is to decarboxylate your cannabis. The process involves using a low level of heat over a longer period of time to transform the compound THCA into the intoxicating cannabinoid THC. Extreme heat, like the kind generated from a flame when smoking, will instantly decarboxylate marijuana. However, very high heat will also cause terpenes and cannabinoids to denature.

  1. Bake your nugs on a parchment-lined baking sheet at 240 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-45 minutes (drier cannabis will require less time).
  2. Stir your cannabis every 10 minutes or so to ensure even baking.
  3. Remove your decarbed cannabis from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet.
  4. Infuse Your Fat. Once your cannabis is decarboxylated, you'll need to infuse your butter with THC. Our favorite trick is to pour your decarbed weed and butter into a french press and stick it into a pot of boiling water for easy straining later on, but any double-boiler (like a bowl on top of a boiling pot of water) will work just fine.
  5. Place your pre-cooked cannabis and butter into your vessel of choice, and place in/on a pot of ~2inches of water. Bring to a light boil.
  6. Reduce heat to low and simmer for at least 40 minutes.
  7. Strain the Cannabutter. This step is critically important to remove any stray bits of plant matter from your butter, making it less likely to irritate your stomach and taste much smoother.
  8. Set your funnel on top of a jar and line it with cheesecloth. Pour the cannabutter through the funnel into the jar.

Infuse Your Syrup.

Now, the fun part: combining our two favorites, cannabutter and maple syrup, for the ultimate stoner fall snack.

1. Heat your saucepan over medium-low and pour your maple syrup and cannabutter into the pot.

2. Cook mixture for 5 minutes (*jump to Bourbon Butter Pecan additional steps if using) and remove from heat before decanting into a pourable container.

Additional Steps for Bourbon Butter Pecan Syrup:

  1. Stir in vanilla extract, bourbon, and pecans to the infused maple syrup. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and decant into a pourable container.
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