Consider the humble banana. It comes with its own protective wrapper

It can float, it can calm an upset stomach, and discarded and left lying on the pavement it can bring even the largest man crashing to his knees But while there is no shortage of uses of the cavendish banana (the cultivar that accounts for around half of the bananas raised for commercial agriculture worldwide), like any fruit, it only reaches its full potential when combined with sugar, butter, flour, or whatever else the dessert recipe calls for. That’s right, we’re talking about banana bread, the potassium rich cake and perfect solution to the fact that bananas can so quickly shift from unripe green scimitar to flaccid black mound of mush.

Banana bread — or bannanabis bread (Cannanabis bread? Marijuanana bread?) — can provide a ton of THC rich solutions of its own, and is a real cinch to make.  

Here’s how to make weed banana bread for the primates in your life.

Why you’ll love canna-banana bread

You may be a devoted joint smoker or have a committed relationship with your bong, but there’s more than enough reasons to jump on the edibles train (it’s more of an Econoline van with shag carpeting).

Edibles are great fun and the sensation can have you feeling all warm and cozy like you’ve been gently wrapped in a banana peel and suspended above the jungle floor (your couch). They also don’t require any smoking and won’t leave the smell of smoke and ash on your clothes, hair, or fingertips.

Also, edibles can be a truly enjoyable way to get together with your friends for a movie night or something more adventurous like renewing your registration at the DMV on 100mg of THC — (you’re going to be there all day anyway).

Also, edibles are typically pretty easy to make, maybe even easier than you think.

What not to do with edibles

Edibles are wholesome, safe, and clean fun, but if you’re a bit careless they can have you slipping like a banana peel. 

You’ll want to be careful about dosing. A lot of people simply cannot wait to get high, and with an onset time of around an hour, perhaps even more, this is a recipe for accidentally taking too high a dose. Make sure to wait at least an hour the first time you try out a new type of edible, and if it wasn’t enough, you can try more the next time. After all, you were in no rush to eat those bananas on the counter, which is why you had to make banana bread in the first place. 

Another common mistake is to skip the next step, which will leave you with delicious banana bread that does not get you high at all. 

What is decarboxylation?

Sometimes overlooked, but always necessary – decarboxylation is a process that involves heating up cannabis so that the cannabinoid THCA converts to THC, which means that it will get you high just from eating it. 

When smoking or vaping cannabis, the heating-up stage happens almost instantly. For edibles, you have to make that happen with an extra step — take some ground up cannabis and bake it in the oven for about 30-45 minutes at around 220-245°F (105-120°C). 

Make sure to keep an eye on it so the weed doesn’t burn, and you may also want to crack a window to clear the smell.  

That’s really all it takes.

Once you have some decarboxylated herb, you can make yourself some cannabis butter, which will be the key ingredient in your cannabutter.
 
How to make cannabis butter/cannabutter

Cannabutter is our fat of choice for edible cakes, cupcakes, and all types of desserts because, well, it’s butter. And as a cannabis infused fat, it’s great to have a batch on hand in the kitchen anytime you feel like whipping up some incredible edibles. 

Here’s what you need to make cannabis butter. 

Ingredients: 

You can make cannabis butter in a saucepan, slow cooker, or double boiler, but the saucepan method is the most straightforward and requires the least equipment. Simply take a cup of water and a cup of butter and simmer them together in the saucepan until the butter melts. Next, mix in the decarboxylated cannabis and keep it simmering for about two-to three hours at around 160-180°F (70-80°C). Make sure to check on it from time to time to see that the mixture doesn’t boil. 

After two-to-three hours, remove from heat and let the mixture cool. Then pour it through the cheesecloth into a container, and you are now the maker of artisan dairy products. 

How to make weed banana bread

After you’ve made your cannabis butter, you need to find a banana bread recipe that uses butter and substitute some or all of the butter in the recipe with cannabutter. We found our recipe in the most precise way possible, by googling “easy banana bread,” which led us to this very easy recipe from SimplyRecipes.com

 

That’s really all it takes! This recipe has only a handful of ingredients and all of them are mixed together in a single bowl, with no technique or expertise needed. 

How to dose with cannabis edibles 

The only possible risk with edibles is that you eat too much and get a high that is too intense or just not what you had in mind. 

Part of the issue is that the potency of homemade edibles is not always an exact science. The potency of the mix cna depend on a variety of factors, including the strength of the cannabis used, the amount of cannabis in the recipe, your tolerance, and how much you ate, among other factors. 

The best advice when trying a new edible is to take your time, start with a low dose and be patient. Keep in mind your tolerance level and don’t be in a rush. Luckily, recipes like this one are easily customizable. If you’d like to make a milder version, use less cannabutter and more non-infused butter. It’s up to you, and with a recipe this easy, it’s no big deal if you have to make it a second time.