Cannabis Cooking Recipes With Exact Dosing Per Serving

Written by Sipho Sam

October 20th, 2025

Cannabis cooking stops feeling like guesswork once you know three specific numbers: how much THC your flower contains, what percentage makes it into your fat, and how that total divides across each serving.

This guide walks through the complete process — from heating cannabis in ways that keep your apartment smell-free to calculating precise mg per brownie square — using only the tools already in your kitchen.

Here's what that looks like in practice: 3.5 grams of flower at 20% THC becomes approximately 560 milligrams total when you account for 80% extraction efficiency.

Split that into 16 brownie squares, and each piece contains roughly 35 milligrams. Change any variable — flower amount, potency percentage, number of servings — and the math stays just as straightforward.

The sections ahead cover both the heating step and the actual cooking, with real numbers throughout.

You'll see exactly what temperature to use, how long each method takes, and why jar techniques drastically cut the smell that makes neighbors complain.

Important disclaimer: Mood provides educational content about cannabis cooking techniques.

We are not a medical authority and cannot offer health advice.

Consult healthcare professionals regarding any health-related questions.

This information is for adults in areas where hemp-derived cannabis products are legal.

Table of Contents

• How To Heat Cannabis Without Filling Your Home With Smell

• Calculate Your THC Per Teaspoon And Per Serving Every Time

• Pick The Right Fat For Your Recipe And Diet

• One Infusion Method That Works For Everything

• Make Cannabis Food That Actually Tastes Good

• Three Tested Recipes With Your Exact Numbers

• Cannabis Drinks That Won't Separate In Your Fridge

• Store Your Infusions Without Losing Track Of Potency

• Common Kitchen Tools You Need And Nothing More

• Quick Flavor Pairings For Different Cannabis Strains

• Your Next Steps With Cannabis Cooking

How To Heat Cannabis Without Filling Your Home With Smell

The heating process warms cannabis at 220-225°F to make THCa more potent.

Most guides recommend spreading ground flower on a baking sheet, which fills every room with that unmistakable smell.

Jar methods contain the vapors during heating while maintaining the temperature needed for the chemical reaction.

Place your ground flower in a Mason jar with the lid sealed finger-tight — not fully cranked down, which could create pressure issues.

Put that jar in your oven at 225°F for 40 minutes.

When you open the oven door, you'll smell something mild.

When you unscrew the jar lid later, the concentrated smell releases, but it's contained to one moment you control with a window open or a fan running.

The jar-in-water-bath method works even better for apartments with thin walls.

Fill a large pot with water, bring it to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low.

Place your sealed jar of ground cannabis in the water and maintain that gentle simmer for 90 minutes.

The water regulates temperature and adds another barrier against smell.

You'll notice almost no odor during the process.

For small batches under 7 grams, air fryers offer a fast option.

Preheat to 220°F, place ground cannabis in a small oven-safe container, and heat for 35 minutes.

The enclosed space and rapid air circulation mean less smell escapes into your kitchen compared to conventional ovens, though it's not quite as discreet as jar methods.

Open-tray heating creates noticeable odor throughout your home for 30-45 minutes.

Neighbors in adjacent apartments often detect it.

The jar and water-bath methods reduce detectable smell by roughly 90%, which matters for anyone concerned about landlords, family members, or shared living spaces.

Starting with consistent flower helps every time you cook.

Mood's THCa flower provides known potency percentages, so your calculations match reality rather than guesswork.

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Calculate Your THC Per Teaspoon And Per Serving Every Time

Cannabis potency math looks intimidating until you break it into three simple multiplications.

Take your flower weight in grams, multiply by the THC percentage expressed as a decimal, then multiply by your extraction efficiency.

That final number is total milligrams of THC in your finished infusion.

Here's a worked example: 3.5 grams at 20% THC means 3.5 × 0.20 = 0.7 grams of THC, which equals 700 milligrams.

Now factor in extraction efficiency — the percentage of cannabinoids that actually make it into your fat.

Most home methods extract 75-85% depending on your heating time, fat type, and temperature control.

Using 80% as a middle estimate: 700 × 0.80 = 560 milligrams total.

Extraction efficiency varies because different fats absorb cannabinoids at different rates.

Butter saturated with milk solids may hold slightly less than pure coconut oil.

Longer heating times don't necessarily extract more — after about an hour, you're mostly adding plant flavor without gaining potency.

Temperature consistency matters more than duration.

One cup of any fat contains 48 teaspoons.

Divide your total milligrams by 48 to find strength per teaspoon.

Using the example above: 560 ÷ 48 = 11.7 milligrams per teaspoon.

If your brownie recipe calls for one-third cup — which equals 16 teaspoons — you're adding 187 milligrams total to the batch.

Cut those brownies into 16 squares, and each piece contains approximately 11.7 milligrams.

Make 12 larger pieces instead, and each one jumps to roughly 15.6 milligrams.

The recipe doesn't change your total milligrams, only how you divide them.

Save this information and adjust the extraction efficiency between 75-85% based on your specific method.

If you're careful about temperature and use a longer infusion time, lean toward 85%.

For faster methods or if you're new to the process, 75% gives you a more conservative estimate.

Real-World Examples and Dosage Reference

Here are common flower amounts with typical results: 3.5 grams at 15% THC yields 420mg total at 80% extraction, which equals 8.75mg per teaspoon.

That same 3.5 grams at 20% THC produces 560mg total, or 11.7mg per teaspoon.

At 25% THC, you get 700mg total, which is 14.6mg per teaspoon.

Double the flower to 7 grams at 20% and you have 1,120mg total, or 23.3mg per teaspoon.

A half-ounce (14 grams) at 20% gives you 2,240mg total, which breaks down to 46.7mg per teaspoon.

After calculating manually, you can verify your math using Mood's dosing calculator.

The calculator handles the arithmetic, but understanding the formula yourself means you can adjust on the fly when recipes change or you're working with different amounts.

Pick The Right Fat For Your Recipe And Diet

Butter provides the richest flavor for baking and the highest saturation of fat molecules that bind to cannabinoids.

It's what most home cooks already understand and what traditional recipes call for.

The milk solids add depth to brownies and cookies, though they also contribute some of the plant taste that people either enjoy or want to minimize.

Coconut oil offers versatility across both sweet and savory recipes.

It solidifies when cool, making it easy to portion and store.

The neutral flavor works in dishes where you don't want a dairy presence, and it lasts months in your pantry without refrigeration.

Many cooks prefer it for gummies and candies where texture control matters.

MCT oil delivers the cleanest taste profile — almost no flavor at all beyond a slight smoothness.

It stays liquid at room temperature, which makes measuring simple but means it won't solidify into neat portions like butter or coconut oil.

The lower smoke point limits its use in high-heat cooking, but it excels in no-bake recipes and drinks.

Ghee splits the difference if you want butter's richness without the milk solids that some people find harder to digest.

The clarification process removes water and proteins, leaving pure butterfat with a higher smoke point than regular butter.

It's particularly useful for savory cooking where you'll be heating the fat again.

Saturated fats hold more cannabinoids because the molecular structure provides better binding sites.

That's why butter, coconut oil, and ghee typically outperform olive oil or other unsaturated fats in extraction efficiency.

The difference isn't huge — maybe 5-10 percentage points — but it adds up when you're trying to maximize potency from limited flower.

Lecithin shows up in many recipes as an optional addition at 0.3-0.5 grams per cup of fat.

Some cooks report smoother texture and more even distribution of cannabinoids throughout their finished product.

The science on enhanced absorption isn't definitive, but the textural improvement is noticeable in gummies and chocolate.

Use sunflower lecithin for a vegan option or soy lecithin for the traditional choice.

When comparing fats for cannabis cooking, butter works best for baking with familiar flavor and lasts 2 weeks refrigerated, with a smoke point of 350°F.

Coconut oil offers versatility across recipes, stays good for months at room temperature, and also has a 350°F smoke point.

MCT oil delivers the cleanest taste for drinks and no-bake recipes, lasts months unrefrigerated, but has a lower 320°F smoke point.

Ghee handles high-heat cooking with months of shelf life and an impressive 485°F smoke point.

One Infusion Method That Works For Everything

The low-simmer method extracts cannabinoids efficiently without overcooking your fat or adding excessive plant taste.

Heat your chosen fat in a double boiler or heavy-bottomed pot until it reaches 160-180°F.

Add your heated cannabis and maintain that temperature range for 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Temperature control makes the difference between smooth extraction and burnt, bitter results.

An instant-read thermometer removes the guesswork.

If you see the fat starting to bubble actively, you're too hot—pull it off the heat for a minute and let it settle back into the target range.

Longer extraction times beyond 60 minutes don't yield significantly more cannabinoids.

You've already pulled most of what's available in the first hour.

Extended heating gives you more chlorophyll and plant matter, which translates to a stronger "green" taste without proportional potency gains.

Straining technique preserves the potency you've worked to extract.

Set a fine mesh strainer or several layers of cheesecloth over a heat-safe container.

Pour your hot infusion through slowly.

Let gravity do the work rather than pressing or squeezing the plant material, which releases bitter compounds and tiny particles that cloud your finished product.

If you're making butter, you'll notice water separating from the fat as it cools.

This is normal and actually helpful — that water layer pulls some of the chlorophyll and impurities with it.

Refrigerate your strained butter until it solidifies completely, then lift off the solid fat disk and discard the water underneath.

Some separation in coconut oil or clarified butter happens if you added any moisture during the process.

Don't worry about perfect clarity.

Small amounts of plant material or water won't affect your calculations as long as you measured your fat correctly at the start.

Make Cannabis Food That Actually Tastes Good

Water-washing improves butter flavor dramatically.

After your initial infusion and straining, combine the warm butter with an equal amount of water.

Stir thoroughly, then refrigerate overnight.

The butter solidifies on top while the water beneath turns dark green, taking much of the chlorophyll with it.

Lift off the butter disk, pat it dry, and discard the water.

Repeat this process once more if you want an even cleaner flavor.

Complementary flavors work better than attempting to mask the cannabis taste entirely.

Chocolate naturally pairs with the earthy notes — use quality cocoa powder or dark chocolate in brownies and cookies.

Coffee amplifies chocolate while adding its own robust flavor that stands up to cannabis.

Vanilla extract rounds out both without fighting against them.

For savory applications, garlic becomes your best friend.

The pungent aromatics complement rather than compete.

Rosemary, thyme, and sage all share herbal characteristics that make the cannabis flavor seem intentional rather than accidental.

Think of it like cooking with any other herb that needs the right partners to shine.

A basic garlic herb butter transforms your cannabis infusion into something you'd actually want on bread.

Melt your infused butter gently, add minced garlic, chopped fresh rosemary, and a pinch of salt.

Let it cool slightly so the garlic doesn't burn, then pour it into a container to solidify.

That same butter melts beautifully over steak, tossed with pasta, or spread on vegetables before roasting.

Compound butters offer endless variations.

Mix softened infused butter with lemon zest and black pepper for seafood, or sun-dried tomatoes and basil for an Italian direction.

Each one gives you precise control over your THC amount per teaspoon while creating something that tastes purposeful.

Brown butter adds another dimension by toasting the milk solids before infusing.

The nutty, caramel notes pair exceptionally well with cannabis and work in both sweet and savory contexts.

Watch your temperatures carefully — brown butter happens quickly, and burnt butter ruins everything.

When culinary results matter more than the DIY process, Mood's bakery line offers professionally crafted flavors.

Sometimes you want consistent taste without experimenting.

Three Tested Recipes With Your Exact Numbers

Fudgy Box-Mix Brownies (16 pieces)

Ingredients:

• 1 box brownie mix (any brand, typically 18-20 oz)

• 1/3 cup infused coconut oil or melted butter

• 2 eggs

• 1/4 cup water

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line an 8×8-inch pan with parchment paper. This size matters for the math — larger pans mean thinner brownies, which changes how you cut them.

2. Mix the brownie mix, infused oil, eggs, and water in a bowl until combined. Overmixing makes tough brownies, not fudgy ones.

3. Pour batter into your prepared pan and bake for 28-32 minutes.You want the edges set, but the center still slightly soft when you insert a toothpick.

4. Cool completely before cutting. This is crucial — warm brownies crumble and make uneven pieces, which means uneven potency per serving.

5. Calculate your potency: If your infused oil contains 12mg per teaspoon and you used 1/3 cup (which equals 16 teaspoons), you added 192mg total to this batch.

6. Divide by 16 pieces: each brownie contains 12mg. Change any variable and recalculate.Make 12 larger pieces, and each one jumps to 16mg.

7. Use oil with 18mg per teaspoon, and your total becomes 288mg for the batch, or 18mg per piece when cut into 16 squares.

8. Pan size affects thickness, which affects how you cut. A 9×13 pan spreads the same batter thinner, making it easier to cut into 24 smaller pieces.

Same total potency, divided more ways — 8mg per piece instead of 12mg. For texture tips beyond potency, see Mood's complete brownie guide.

Garlic Herb Butter

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup infused butter, softened

• 4 cloves garlic, minced fine

• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped

• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly with a fork until the herbs distribute evenly throughout the butter.

2. Transfer to a sheet of parchment paper and roll into a log shape, twisting the ends like a candy wrapper.Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.

3. Slice off rounds as needed.One tablespoon per serving works for most applications.

4. Uses and potency tracking: Each tablespoon (3 teaspoons) contains whatever your base butter held times three. If your infused butter was 10mg per teaspoon, each tablespoon slice delivers 30mg.

5. Melt that over a steak, toss it with roasted vegetables, or spread it on bread.

6. Store refrigerated for up to 2 weeks or freeze for 6 months.

7. Slice the log before freezing so you can grab single servings.

Simple Syrup That Stays Mixed

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water

• 1 cup white sugar

• 1/4 cup vegetable glycerin

• 2 tablespoons infused MCT oil

• 1 tablespoon sunflower lecithin

Instructions:

1. Combine water and sugar in a small pot over medium heat.Stir until sugar dissolves completely, then remove from heat.

2. Add vegetable glycerin and stir to incorporate.

3. Let cool to 170°F — this temperature matters because it's hot enough to blend the lecithin but won't degrade your infused oil.

4. In a separate container, warm your infused MCT oil to body temperature and stir in the lecithin until dissolved.

5. Slowly drizzle this mixture into your sugar syrup while whisking constantly.

6. Transfer to a bottle with a tight-sealing lid.

7. Shake vigorously for 30 seconds.

8. Shake again before each use.

Potency and storage: This recipe yields approximately 16 ounces of finished syrup.If you used MCT oil with 10mg per teaspoon and added 6 teaspoons total (2 tablespoons), you have 60mg in the entire batch.

There are 32 tablespoons in 16 ounces, so each tablespoon of syrup contains roughly 1.9mg.For stronger results, increase your infused oil proportionally.

Using 4 tablespoons (12 teaspoons) at 10mg each gives you 120mg total, or approximately 3.75mg per tablespoon of finished syrup.

Store refrigerated and use within 2 weeks.

The glycerin and lecithin help prevent separation, but you'll still see some over time.That's normal — shake before pouring.

If DIY syrup mixing becomes frustrating, Mood's nano syrup stays fully mixed without any effort.Don't heat it above 170°F or you'll lose potency.

Cannabis Drinks That Won't Separate In Your Fridge

Oil and water separate because their molecules don't form stable bonds.

Cannabis infusions are fat-based, which means they naturally float on top of water-based drinks.

You can shake a bottle vigorously and create a temporary mixture, but within minutes the layers reform.

Emulsifiers bridge that gap by having one end that likes water and another that likes fat.

They surround tiny oil droplets and keep them suspended in liquid rather than letting them clump together.

Sunflower lecithin and vegetable glycerin both work through this mechanism, though neither creates a permanent emulsion—they slow the separation significantly.

The glycerin-based syrup recipe in the previous section gives you a starting point that works in cocktails, coffee, or mixed drinks.

The syrup stays reasonably mixed for 10-14 days refrigerated, long enough for most people to use a batch.

For completely stable drinks without any separation concerns, Mood's nano syrup uses a different technology that keeps everything suspended permanently.

Add it to cold drinks without heating—temperatures above 170°F degrade the compounds that make it work.

This matters particularly for hot coffee or tea, where you'd need to let the liquid cool first.

Making your own fully stable emulsion at home requires specialized equipment like high-shear blenders or homogenizers that most kitchens don't have.

The glycerin method represents the best balance between effectiveness and accessibility using common tools.

Another option comes from Mood's freezer pop recipes, where the frozen format keeps everything mixed.

Blend them into slushies or let them melt into cocktails naturally.

Store Your Infusions Without Losing Track Of Potency

Infused butter stays good in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks before you start noticing off flavors from the dairy going rancid.

Infused coconut oil or MCT oil lasts approximately 1 month refrigerated because they lack the milk solids that spoil quickly.

Freezing extends both to roughly 6 months in airtight containers.

Oxygen exposure causes more degradation than cold temperatures, so eliminate as much air as possible when you package portions.

Glass jars work well, as do heavy-duty freezer bags with the air pressed out.

Portioning before freezing saves you from chipping frozen butter or thawing an entire batch when you need one tablespoon.

Ice cube trays give you pre-measured amounts — typically 2 tablespoons per standard cube.

Pop out however many you need and return the rest to the freezer immediately.

Label everything with the date and milligrams per portion.

Three months later you won't remember if that container holds 8mg or 18mg per teaspoon.

Write it down when the math is fresh in your mind.

Diluting lets you stretch a strong infusion or fix a batch that came out more potent than intended.

Add regular, non-infused fat in whatever proportion brings you to your target strength.

If you have 1 cup at 20mg per teaspoon but want 10mg per teaspoon, add 1 cup of plain fat.

You'll have 2 cups at the desired strength.

Concentrating works in reverse.

Gently heat your infusion and let some of the liquid evaporate.

This only works with butter or fats that contain water — pure oils won't reduce this way.

Measure frequently and recalculate your potency as the volume decreases.

Shelf-stable alternatives remove storage complications entirely.

Mood's packaged edibles last months in your pantry without refrigeration, eliminating the calculations and timing concerns of homemade batches.

Common Kitchen Tools You Need And Nothing More

Mason jars serve double duty for both the heating step and storage afterward.

You need at least two pint-sized jars to start — one for the heating process and another for your finished infusion.

The wide-mouth style makes straining easier.

An instant-read thermometer eliminates guessing during both heating and infusion.

The difference between 180°F and 220°F matters significantly for your results.

Digital models cost under twenty dollars and read temperatures in seconds.

A fine mesh strainer catches plant material without requiring you to squeeze everything through cheesecloth.

The squeezing actually releases bitter compounds you don't want.

Let the fat drain naturally through a good strainer and you'll have cleaner flavor.

Kitchen scales measure in grams, which the cannabis world uses exclusively.

Trying to eyeball "an eighth" versus "a quarter" introduces error that throws off all your downstream calculations.

Scales accurate to 0.1 grams cost about fifteen dollars.

Everything else — pots, spoons, containers — you already own.

Some recipes call for double boilers, but a heat-safe bowl nested in a pot of simmering water creates the same gentle, indirect heat.

LEVO, Ardent, and MagicalButter machines automate temperature control and timing.

They're convenient for frequent batches or if you want truly hands-off processing.

The precision is nice.

But nothing they do is impossible with manual methods and a thermometer.

Save the $200-400 until you're sure cannabis cooking becomes a regular practice.

When you do scale up to frequent production, consider the hardware.

Until then, perfect technique with basic tools beats expensive equipment used carelessly.

Quick Flavor Pairings For Different Cannabis Strains

Citrus-forward strains pair naturally with lemon desserts, orange glazes, and lime-based drinks.

The terpenes responsible for those bright notes—primarily limonene—harmonize with actual citrus rather than clashing.

Lemon pound cake or orange cranberry muffins showcase this pairing.

Earthy, pine-heavy strains work in savory dishes that already feature those flavor profiles.

Mushroom risotto, beef stew with root vegetables, or roasted game meats all have enough depth to integrate cannabis seamlessly.

Add a sprig of rosemary or thyme and the herbal notes blend together.

Strains with berry or grape characteristics fit fruit-based desserts and breakfast items.

Blueberry muffins, strawberry shortcake, or mixed berry compote all benefit from that flavor overlap.

The sweetness of the fruit rounds out any sharpness from the cannabis.

Tropical profiles—think mango, pineapple, coconut—belong in smoothies, tropical cocktails, or coconut-based desserts.

These strains often carry terpenes that literally smell like the fruits they're named after, making the pairing obvious once you notice it.

Diesel or fuel-like strains need strong flavors to work with rather than against their intensity.

Rich chocolate, espresso, or heavily spiced dishes handle that pungency.

German chocolate cake or Mexican mole sauce both have enough complexity to incorporate those harder-edged profiles.

These pairings work because you're matching rather than masking.

You're not trying to hide cannabis flavor — you're giving it complementary notes that make the whole dish taste intentional.

Your Next Steps With Cannabis Cooking

Pick one heating method from the options covered earlier.

The jar-in-oven approach works for most situations, especially if smell concerns you.

Get comfortable with that single technique before exploring water baths or air fryers.

Choose one fat to start.

Butter makes sense if you're baking traditional desserts.

Coconut oil gives you more versatility across recipes.

MCT oil works well for drinks.

Don't try to master all three simultaneously.

Make one recipe from start to finish with conservative amounts.

Using 3.5 grams of flower means a failed experiment costs less than trying to perfect a half-ounce batch immediately.

Small batches teach you the process without expensive mistakes.

Once you've successfully made one thing at a known strength, you understand the entire system.

Everything else is variations — different fats, different foods, different calculations using the same math.

Resources that reduce friction rather than add complexity: consistent flower with known potency removes guesswork from your calculations.

The dosing calculator verifies your manual math.

Ready-made syrups solve drink-mixing problems you'd otherwise troubleshoot repeatedly.

Start conservatively with strength per serving.

You can always consume more after confirming the experience, but you can't reverse an overly strong portion.

Build up gradually over several attempts until you find your preferred range.

This guide covered the mechanics—heating, extracting, calculating, cooking—but developing intuition takes practice.

Your third batch will go smoother than your first.

Your tenth will feel routine.

Every time you cook, you'll refine technique and dial in preferences around flavor, potency, and efficiency.