Nov 30th 2022

Recipe: Cannabis-Infused Holiday Sugar Cookies

Those who celebrate Christmas may hold special memories of baking holiday cookies with their loved ones. Christmas cookies and baking have long been a part of holiday traditions. As the holiday season swells, those who have received their medical cannabis certification through Compassionate Clinics of America may be interested in a different kind of holiday “baking”.

As we have mentioned in our patient education series, consuming cannabis edibles usually provides a different effect than inhalation on smoking, with many choosing this method of consumption wholly for their medical cannabis regimen while others move between methods. When consuming edibles, it’s always important to ensure that you use a fat carrier such as butter or oil, as the cannabinoids need something to grab on to as they move through your system.

Here we’ll provide you with a simple recipe for Cannabis-Infused Holiday Sugar Cookies to make your holidays burn a little brighter. Be sure you understand dosing as you make your cannabutter and place it in the recipe to ensure the best experience. Always be sure to “go low and start slow” and ensure you’re allowing enough time to fully understand the effects of your edible before you consume any more.

Ingredients You’ll Need for Cannabis-Infused Holiday Sugar Cookies

• 1 cup of cannabutter softened (see our cannabutter recipe here)
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 5 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 5 cups of all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon of baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon of table salt

For the icing, here’s what you’ll need:

• 3 cups of powdered sugar, sifted
• 3-4 tablespoons of milk
• 2 tablespoons of light corn syrup
• ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
• Food coloring optional
• Decorations and sprinkles also optional (but highly encouraged)

How to Make Cannabis-Infused Holiday Sugar Cookies

Sugar Cookies

1. Combine cannabutter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl and use an electric hand mixer) and beat until creamy and well-combined.
2. Add egg and vanilla extract and beat until completely combined.
3. In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Gradually stir dry ingredients into wet until dough is smooth and completely combined.
5. Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap and transfer approximately half of the dough onto the wrap (dough will be quite sticky at this point, that’s OK!).
6. Cover dough with clear wrap or wax paper and mold into a flat disk. Wrap tightly. Repeat with remaining cookie dough in another piece of clear wrap. Transfer dough to refrigerator and chill for at least 2-3 hours and up to 5 days.
7. Once dough has finished chilling, preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (alternatively bake cookies directly on an ungreased baking sheet). Set aside.
8. Generously dust a clean surface with flour and place one chilled cookie dough disk onto the surface. Lightly flour the dough and roll out to ⅛” (for thinner, crispier cookies) or ¼” (for thicker, softer cookies). Add additional flour as needed both on top of and beneath the dough so that it doesn’t stick.

Note: if dough is cracking as you roll it, let it sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes to soften before attempting again.

9. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes and use a spatula to transfer shapes to prepared baking sheet, spacing at least 1″ apart. If you are not intending to decorate your cookies with icing, you can decorate them with sanding sugar at this point before you bake them.
10. Bake on 350F (175C) for 8-10 minutes (this is for cookies that are approximately 3″ [7.6cm]; note that smaller cookies will need less time and larger cookies will need more), or until edges justbegin to turn lightly golden brown.
11. Allow cookies to cool completely on cookie sheet before decorating.

Easy Sugar Cookie Icing

1. Combine powdered sugar, 2 Tablespoons of milk, corn syrup, and vanilla extract in a medium-sized bowl and stir until combined. If frosting is too thick, add more milk, about a teaspoon at a time, until the frosting is thick but pipeable. If you accidentally add too much milk, add powdered sugar until desired texture is reached.
2. If coloring the frosting, divide into bowls and color as desired at this point.
3. Transfer frosting to a piping bag with a piping tip (I used Wilton 5), or place in a Ziploc bag and snip a small piece of the corner off (not as neat, but this will still work, just take care that the frosting isn’t so thick that it breaks open the seam of the bag when you are squeezing).
4. Pipe frosting on cookies and decorate with decorative candies, if desired.
5. Allow frosting to harden before enjoying, stacking, or storing (this took several hours for me and may vary for you depending on the consistency of your frosting).

Enjoy!

Remember to use caution and keep cookies away from children or those under the age of 21. Go low and start slow to ensure the best cannabis experience. In the event of overconsumption where the effects of THC may be too powerful, be sure to check out our blog on how to reduce the effects of too-powerful THC products.

This recipe was adapted from Sugar Spun Run.