Salty snack mixes are a great alternative to cloyingly sweet baked cannabis edibles. The body metabolizes THC through the gut differently (and more slowly) versus by inhaling it into the lungs. The liver metabolizes Delta-9 THC into 11-OH-THC, which passes the blood-brain barrier, and enhances the psychoactive effect.

Step 1. Make Butter, Decide on Potency

I make a pound of canna-butter or canna-oil at a time, using this classic technique. A “standard” potency is 1 oz/28g bud per lb/450g butter or oil. Note that there can be a wide difference in the THC content of your starting plant material. Purchasing cannabis from state-regulated shops (where it’s legal for medicinal or recreational purposes) is a good idea. They are required to lab test their products and print them on the label, so you know the exact THC content of the starting material. The potency can vary from the strain, type of material (bud vs. trim), its age, etc. We added a handy calculator to help you estimate the potency of the butter, even if you have to make an educated guess of the THC content of the starting material. Note that in states where cannabis is legal for recreational use, 10mg THC is considered a “standard dose.”

Once you have the butter or oil, use it as you would in any recipe. Store butter or oil in the freezer in an airtight container for maximum shelf life. Shake or trim work as well as bud for making butter or oil, as they still contains a lot of THC. Once you have a batch on hand (I store mine in an airtight mason jar and keep it in the freezer), making snacks is simple.

Step 2. Make snacks

In addition to the potency of the butter/oil, you can also adjust the strength of the finished snacks by adjusting how much butter you use in the recipe.

For the mix, pick a variety of salty, crunchy snacks that have an ‘absorbent’ texture. Pretzels, baked rice crackers, and other snacks which have a “shiny” texture do not absorb the butter as well as snacks with an “open” texture. “Open weave” breakfast cereals like shredded wheat or Chex, rye toasts, cheese puffs, plantain- or banana chips, Goldfish crackers, corn nuts and sesame snacks are all examples of absorbent textured snacks.

It seems like it’s getting harder and harder to find pre-made snacks that don’t contain dreaded vegetable oils (safflower, canola, sunflower, corn) or GMO ingredients. It is relatively easy to build a gluten-free mix based on rice- or corn-based snacks.

Want to make your own snacks? Try our vegan Cannabis sourdough crackers, aka Scooby Snacks!

THE MOST IMPORTANT part of the preparation is ensuring that you evenly coat the mixture with the butter/oil. This can be tricky due to the varying sizes and shapes of the pieces. The best kitchen way to get everything evenly coated is to use a gloved hand. Keep stirring the ingredients under a stream of butter drizzle. Spreading the butter unevenly will give you inconsistent results and varying levels of strength from bite to bite in the final snack.