How to Make Ganja Gingerbread Christmas Cookies

Freshly baked gingerbread cookies are an integral part of Christmas. I love anything flavored with ginger—it’s one of my go-to spices. Just another reason why the so-called silly season is my favorite time of year. Speaking of being freshly baked, this year, I decided to add a little extra sprinkle of marijuana magic to my Christmas cookies. So, I reached out to my good friend—and highly regarded cannabis chef— Cheri Sicard for some inspiration. She recommended I try making her famous Ganja Gingerbread.

In Sicard’s recipe, these traditional cookies are given an extra helping of festive fun with her homemade cannabutter. Sweet and lightly spiced, the cannabutter ratio in this recipe means they aren’t overpowered by that tell-tale weedy taste you often get with edibles. Instead, it allows the ginger to shine bright like Rudolf’s nose (figuratively speaking.)

“Each of the 36 cookies in this cannabis-infused gingerbread cookie recipe will have about 15 mg THC, if you made your marijuana butter from average cannabis (10% THC) and used 1/2 ounce of marijuana to make one cup butter,” Sicard states on her website.

As with all edibles, start low and slow and build up, especially since you might forget that these delicious treats are infused, as you can’t really taste the bud butter.

Why You’ll Love These Ganja Gingerbread Cookies 

Quintessentially Christmas: Gingerbread cookies are the essence of the holidays and are deeply flavored with aromatic spices including nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and ginger and sweetened with molasses and brown sugar.

Fun to Decorate: Get creative with the decorating! You can use cannabis leaf cookie cutters as I did, or you can use traditional gingerbread person shapes, stars or whatever you like. Bear in mind that using the cannabis leaf shape will help remove the potential risk of people not knowing that these cookies are infused. Pro tip: Use store-bought colored icing pens to decorate.

Freezer-Friendly: These delicious Ganja Gingerbread cookies will keep for up to three months in an airtight container or freezer bag—not that you’ll have any leftovers.

In the recipe, you’ll have to chill the cookie dough for at least two hours. Trust me, you need the dough to be chilled so it’s manageable to roll out, and it also helps the cookies maintain their shape. If you don’t have chilled cookie dough, you won’t have either! 

After rolling out my chilled dough, I used the same cannabis leaf cookie cutters on Sicard’s recommendation. Once they were out of the oven, I let them cool before decorating them, which was super fun.

I’ll have to wait until Christmas morning to see if these Ganja Gingerbread cookies are Santa-approved, but I do know that these fun and festive treats are a delicious way to enjoy cannabis during the holiday season. They also make excellent gifts for your edible-loving friends and family. 

Let’s get baked!

Ganja Gingerbread

Servings: 36 Cookies

Ingredients

• 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons dried ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 cup cannabis-infused butter
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg at room temperature
• 1 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Tubes of store-bought decorator’s icing (optional)

Instructions

• Stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves; set aside.
• Use an electric mixer on medium-high speed to beat the cannabis butter, butter, brown sugar, and egg until smooth.
• Beat in the molasses and vanilla.
• Lower the mixer speed and stir in the dry ingredients until smooth. Do not over mix. The dough should be firm but not crumbly.
• Divide the dough into thirds and flatten each piece into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• Roll a refrigerated disk to 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface.
• Use cookie cutters to make shapes and transfer to a large greased baking sheet, about 1 inch apart.
• Bake for about 10 minutes or until firm to the touch. Cool slightly before transferring to a rack.
• Cool completely before using the decorator’s icing to embellish your Ganja Gingerbread Christmas cookies.