How to Make Gluten-Free Weed-Infused Cosmic Granola Bars

We really excited to share this one with you. It is one of our favourite cannabis recipes we’ve come up with to date. The cannabis-infused granola bar – a recipe that is as easy as it gets, yet offers huge flexibility and flavour.

For the more health-conscious stoners out there, these bars are a great way to ingest your favourite weed while getting all the protein, fibre, and energy you need to get through your day. It's completely up to you what kind of fillings you add, so use your imagination. Our favourites are raisins, walnuts and chocolate chips. These bars are chewy, gooey and filling. If you like them a little crunchier, just use half the mix in the same size tray.

We have also added a method for making cannabis-infused coconut oil, but you can make these bars weed-free without it, making it suitable for family by just using ordinary coconut oil or, say, butter.

YOU WILL NEED:

• Two large mixing bowls
• Wooden mixing spoon
• 6x8 inch Baking tray
• Greaseproof paper
• Oven
• Slow cooker or saucepan/double boiler

WET INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup cannabis infused coconut oil (see below for our quick recipe, or find our detailed one here)
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (use organic, high-quality peanut butter that separates in the jar)
• 1/4 cup sunflower spread
• 1 cup almond milk
• A dash of vanilla essence
• A squirt of honey (leave this out to make the recipe vegan)

DRY INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/2 cups large old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup organic brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white cane sugar
• 1/2 tsp crushed Himalayan pink salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
• 1/4 cup cocoa (optional)
• 2 1/2 cups of additional fillings

The ratios you use here are entirely up to you. Be creative! Try raisins, glacé cherries, dried cranberries, banana slices, crystallised ginger, chopped nuts, shredded coconut, or, for a sweet (and less healthy) alternative, try dark chocolate chips, fudge pieces, or gelatine-free mini marshmallows.

INGREDIENTS FOR CANNABIS INFUSED COCONUT OIL

• 800ml Raw organic coconut oil
• 1/4 Cup lecithin granules or liquid lecithin.

(You can use any kind of lecithin but sunflower is the best. This is what your body uses to build brain mass. It helps the oil to set evenly, and emulsifies as it cooks, increasing the absorption of THC. This ingredient really brings your product up a notch.)

• Dry herbal cannabis - we like to use 50g of shake and trim. We find that indica strains make better edibles, but your mileage may vary. Lately, we have been using a delicious Afghani strain called "Mazar" with high CBD levels. It's great for pain relief and insomnia.

TO MAKE THE CANNABIS INFUSED COCONUT OIL

Cannabis infused coconut oil is one of the best ways we have found to eat your favourite herb. Coconut oil is great for you, and it contains more saturated fat than alternatives such as butter or olive oil, so the THC has a much easier time extracting. The coconut also has a pleasant taste that goes well with all kinds of sweet baked goods.

1. First, preheat your oven to 115°C.

2. Now, grind your herb. I like to do this in a coffee grinder for larger amounts. You can use as little or as much weed as you want but I find a stronger concentrate works best as less oil is needed for an effect in your final product.

3. The next step is to decarboxylate. This process converts the inactive THCA and CBDA in the plant to the orally psychoactive THC and CBD. To do this, we place the dry ground weed into a sealed baking dish and pop it in the oven for about 30-40 minutes. Give it a stir halfway through to make sure it toasts evenly. It should be just lightly browner than it was. Your kitchen should be smelling good at this point.

4. Now, add your oil and lecithins to your slow cooker set to HIGH until it's all completely melted together. You can do this on a stovetop, too, just use a double boiler and heat gently. Once the oil and lecithins are melted together, sprinkle a little dry sift kief into the mix if you have any – it adds that finishing little finer touch.

Then, add the herb, cover, and leave for twelve hours (eight if you're using a hob), stirring occasionally. Some might call it overkill, but we like to leave it for twenty-four hours just to make sure we get out all the active constituents from the weed.

You should be left with a dark green oil, and a house that smells like coconuts and weed. Strain the mixture through a few layers of cheesecloth into a jar and leave in the fridge to set. This oil is potent! So be careful. Use it in baking, or apply as a topical salve. Coconut oil makes a great natural moisturiser and infusing it with cannabis adds a deep penetrating pain relieving element as well.

Now, for the granola bar recipe. Last time we made these, I licked the spoon while I was mixing it, and by the time they were cooking I was so high I almost forgot to take them out of the oven!

TO MAKE THE GRANOLA BARS

1. Preheat your oven to about 200°C.

2. Line a 6 x 8 baking tray neatly with greaseproof paper. Leave a little paper sticking out at the top so you can easily remove the bars from the tray later.

3.Mix your wet ingredients in a bowl until you have a smooth mixture. The coconut oil hardens in cooler climates, so you might need to warm it gently to get it all mixed together.

4. Mix your dry ingredients in a separate bowl, adding the fillings last.

5. Then, slowly combine your wet and dry ingredients, mixing them as you go. You should be left with a very heavy, gooey mixture that sticks to the spoon.

6. Spread the mixture into your baking tray and place in the hot oven for about 30 minutes, or until it's nice and brown and a little firm to the touch. We like to sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top towards the end for decoration.

7. When it's done, remove the tray from the oven, dust with a little icing sugar and leave it to cool. As it cools, the icing sugar will melt and the cake will firm up a bit. Once they are room temperature it should be quite easy to cut it into bars.

Enjoy, folks. These bars freeze well for storage. I personally like to eat a half bar during my morning walk, and when I do this I always have a big smile on my face by lunchtime. Just remember to start slow until you know how strong they are – it can take 45-90 minutes to set in, so don’t overdo it.

Luke Sumpter

With a BSc (Hons) degree in Clinical Health Sciences and a passion for growing plants, Luke Sumpter has worked as a professional journalist and writer at the intersection of cannabis and science for the past 7 years.

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