There are so many great ways to incorporate CBD into our daily wellness routine, from convenient CBD roll-ons to edible gummies and even mixing a bit of CBD oil into your food or drinks.
A baked good can help sweeten any day. But what would happen if you combined the comforting powers of your favorite treats with the restorative benefits of CBD?
You would get something that goes beyond delicious — a healthy helping of mind-body wellness.
From CBD cookies to CBD chocolate mousse, CBD can easily be incorporated into your favorite dessert recipes, and this guide will show you how.
Put on your apron and queue up some baking tunes. It’s time to bake with CBD.
5 Sweet and Simple Rules to Baking With CBD Oil
Good news: You don’t have to be a master pastry chef to bake with CBD. Even if your idea of baking is nibbling on store-bought cookie dough and forgetting to preheat the oven, you should be able to commit to these simple rules for producing some seriously delicious treats.
#1 CBD Loves Fat
Fat adds delicious flavor to sweet and savory dishes. On a chemical level, it can also act as a binding agent for certain ingredients, like CBD. CBD is lipophilic, meaning it loves lipids — another word for fat molecules. CBD dissolves in fats, making it easier for the body to absorb. CBD’s love of fats also makes it perfect for cooking.
To that end, CBD pairs well with baking essentials like:
- coconut oil.
- butter.
- vegetable oil.
- cream.
CBD baker’s tip: If you’re looking to incorporate CBD into some of your tried-and-true recipes, make sure to mix together the CBD and the fat source before adding to the recipe. This will help evenly disperse the CBD into the recipe and ensure your body has an easier time absorbing its benefits.
#2 Keep the Heat Low
When cookies or other baked goods containing chocolate chunks or chips are left on the still-hot pan, the chips can burn. If you don’t move your chocolate chip cookies off the pan to a cooling rack after baking, those little morsels of chocolatey goodness become bitter and the texture of the chocolate will no longer be melty, but instead dry and crumbly.
Much like chocolate, CBD has a limit when it comes to heat. Avoid baking CBD at temperatures above 340º F to ensure it retains its beneficial properties.
CBD baker’s tip: Does your recipe require higher temperatures than CBD can take? Don’t worry; there are other ways to incorporate CBD into sweet treats. Try adding a dose of CBD to icing for cupcakes, filling for doughnuts, or even stir it into milk to accompany your favorite cookies. CBD is also a perfect addition to any “raw” baking recipes you’ve been itching to try.
#3 Be Mindful of Portion Size
Just as you need to mix dry ingredients together to ensure proper distribution of ingredients, be mindful of portion size and proper distribution of CBD. If a recipe calls for only 100 mgs of CBD oil and you’re making 25 cookies, each cookie will have only 4 mg of CBD. If your preferred dose is 12 mg of CBD, it’ll take three cookies to get the desired CBD dose. .
So do a little bit of math before you break out the mixing bowls and measuring cup to ensure you’ll be getting exactly the amount of CBD you want in each serving.
CBD baker’s tip:If you’re new to cooking with CBD and aren’t sure of the proper dose, start low then go slow. See how you feel after your confection is consumed and adjust as needed for next time.
#4 Store CBD Properly
Knowing how to properly store CBD oil is a simple and effective way to ensure the quality of your CBD recipes. Store the CBD somewhere:
- dark. Much like premium olive oils and expensive wines, CBD does best in dark spaces. UV rays can damage the molecular structure of CBD, so you may not get its full effects in your baked goods.
- dry. Moisture is an open invitation to your pantry’s worst nightmare: bacteria. When stored in a damp place, bacterial invaders can contaminate CBD oil and possibly your baked goods.
- cool. Remember, like snickerdoodles and pickles, CBD and heat do not mix. You can keep your CBD in the fridge to ensure it retains its potency.
#5 Use High-Quality CBD
If you’re a veteran baker, you know the difference the quality of the ingredients you use can make in a recipe. But with so many CBD oils out there, it can be difficult to figure out which product will make (or break) your recipes.
When hunting for a high quality CBD oil for your next recipe, look for CBD products with the following characteristics:
- Organic – Bakers like to opt for organic ingredients whenever they can. Why? It’s not about what’s in the product, but what isn’t. When you see “organic” on a food product, that means it was made without potentially harmful genetically modified organisms, pesticides, growth additives, or man-made fertilizers.
- Third-party laboratory tested – Because CBD products aren’t regulated by the FDA, it’s up to CBD brands to test the accuracy and quality of their own products. That’s why companies send their products to third-party laboratories to verify the ingredient quantities and quality of their CBD products.
- Carries aLabel Accuracy Guarantee™ – While third-party laboratory testing is a good start, it doesn’t always mean what you read on the label is what you’re getting in the bottle. In fact, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that 70% of CBD products did not meet label claims (even when they underwent third-party laboratory testing). This is why you should always look for a Label Accuracy Guarantee™ for your CBD baking needs. This guarantee is the gold standard of CBD accuracy. It means a product and its label have been sent to a third-party laboratory, then the results from that laboratory are double-checked and verified by another laboratory. When it comes to the Label Accuracy Guarantee™, you can rest assured that the ingredients and quantities listed on the label match what’s in the bottle.
CBD baker’s tip: For your baking needs, trust Zebra CBD’s Full-Spectrum Hemp Oil. Derived from American-grown organic hemp, every bottle of Zebra CBD’s broad spectrum CBD oil comes with a Label Accuracy Guarantee™, making it a CBD baker’s trusted ingredient.
3 CBD Recipes For Your Sweet Tooth
Five essential CBD baking rules? Check. Apron on? Check. Channeling your inner Mary Berry? Double check. It’s time for a few CBD recipes to get your own great CBD bake-off started.
Super Chocolatey CBD Brownies
(Makes 24)
Chocolate and CBD are a match made in baked-goods heaven. Add a handful of chopped pretzels, mini marshmallows or even a swirl of peanut butter to make this recipe your own.
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups granulated sugar
2½ cups cocoa powder
1½ tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
2 cups applesauce
½ cup agave syrup
1 cup milk
1½ cups vegetable oil
3 tbsp Zebra CBD Hemp Oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup mini chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 325º F. Lightly oil two 9x12 baking pans.
- Whisk together all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine all wet ingredients and mix well.
- Using a silicone spatula, add the wet mixture into the dry mixture. Incorporate with a hand whisk until smooth.
- Gently fold in chocolate chips.
- Pour the brownie batter into the baking pans. Add extra chocolate chips or flaky sea salt if desired.
- Bake for 12 minutes.
- Allow to cool.
Chocolate Chip CBD Cookies
(Makes 40)
A classic treat gets a CBD upgrade. Turn this bakery essential into a restorative dessert whenever you need a sweet CBD pick-me-up.
2 tbsp of Zebra CBD Hemp Oil
1 cup softened butter
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 325º F. Lay parchment paper on a cookie sheet and set aside.
- In a large bowl, add CBD oil to the softened butter. Using a hand mixer, cream the oil and butter together until well-incorporated. Mix in eggs and vanilla.
- Add salt and baking soda to the bowl; mix well.
- Gradually add the flour using the hand mixer.
- Using a silicone spatula, fold in chocolate chips.
- Place dough in the fridge for an hour to help the cookies retain their shape and prevent spreading.
- Roll cookie dough into balls and place on the parchment-lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.!
Quick and Easy CBD Coconut Balls
(Makes 12)
For the times when you want a sweet treat without having to turn on the oven, try one of our favorite recipes for coconut balls. All you need is a food processor to help these ingredients come together. Plus, they're gluten-free!
¾ cup roasted and salted macadamia nuts
1 tbsp melted coconut oil
1 tbsp Zebra CBD Hemp Oil
⅓ cup almond flour
⅓ cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Add macadamia nuts to your blender or food processor and blend for a few minutes until a thick paste forms.
- Add melted coconut oil and CBD oil. Blend for a little while longer until a smooth nut butter forms. Add more coconut oil as needed to get the desired texture.
- In a large bowl, combine the macadamia and CBD butter, almond flower, coconut, ground cinnamon and vanilla extract. Mix until well-incorporated. (It should look like cookie dough).
- Do a quick taste test and add agave, honey or Stevia if you want to sweeten the mixture.
- Scoop up about 1 tablespoon worth of the mixture at a time and roll into a ball.
Nothing’s Sweeter Than Wellness Support From Zebra CBD
The nourishing benefits of CBD pair well with any treat. But when it comes to making the most delectable baked goods and enjoying the best CBD experience, Zebra CBD Hemp Oil is the key ingredient. If sweets aren't your thing, just remember the basics of cooking with CBD: Mix CBD with oil or fat and in a pinch, you'll have CBD pesto pasta, salad dressings and more! Check out the additional recipes on our recipe blog today!
Source:
WebMD. A Fatty Meal Might Affect How You Absorb CBD. https://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20190816/a-fatty-meal-might-affect-how-you-absorb-cbd
HuffPost. How to Bake with CBD. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-to-bake-cbd_l_5cd08bd1e4b04e275d4e8ba7
BBC Good Food. What does organic mean? https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/organic
FDA. What You Need to Know (And What We’re Working to Find Out) About Products Containing Cannabis or Cannabis-derived Compounds, Including CBD. https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/what-you-need-know-and-what-were-working-find-out-about-products-containing-cannabis-or-cannabis
JAMA. Labeling Accuracy of Cannabidiol Extracts Sold Online. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2661569?resultClick=1
