3 Easy Ways to Make Cannabis-Infused Caramel

3 Easy Ways to Make Cannabis-Infused Caramel

I don’t know about you, but if you put caramel on a rubber tire, I will eat it. I love caramel on my pancakes, chocolate pudding, vanilla ice cream, fluffy popcorn, and more. Throw in some salt or cannabis, and I have a winner cookie, muffin, or granola bar.

All I am left with is the chance to offer three ways to make cannabis-Infused caramel

Mise en place

In a French kitchen, mise en place means having everything is in its place. It means laying out your ingredients and tools in such a way that you can get your hands on them as needed. So, let’s look at what you need for the recipes to follow:

Chances are, you will need some or all the following: canna-butter, corn syrup, sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, de-carboxylated cannabis, salt, and vanilla. Depending on the recipe, you’ll probably need a small to medium saucepan, double boiler, parchment paper, whisk, and a shallow pan.

But, all these needs will vary from recipe to recipe.

3 ways to make cannabis-Infused caramel:

1. Basic cannabis-infused caramel sauce-

We’re talking a sauce here, one for drizzling on deserts or mixing with other beverages or recipes.

Ingredients:

  • ½ cup cannabutter
  • ¾ cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup water, distilled
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:

  1. Combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, heavy cream, cannabutter, water and salt in a saucepan over medium heat.
  2. Gently whisk for the mixture for about 7-8 minutes, or until sauce starts to thicken. Adjust heat and continue to whisk to avoid burning the sauce.
  3. Add the vanilla slowly and continue to heat while stirring for another minute or two.
  4. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow it to cool for 5 minutes.
  5. You can then use the sauce or store it in an airtight container.

Your sauce is ready to use or store for later. With experience, you can create a thinner or thicker sauce by adjusting the cooking time. If you store and cool in covered ice cube trays, you will have individual candy size caramels. Keep it thin and mix with popcorn; make it thick and create lollipops.

2. Individual Canna-caramel Candies

Canna-caramel candies are individual treats you can enjoy one at a time remembering you don’t want to consume edibles too close together.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup cannabis butter
  • 2 ¼ cup brown sugar
  • Dash of sea salt
  • 1 cup light corn syrup
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Directions:

  1. Melt the canna-butter slowly.
  2. Add brown sugar and salt continuing to stir slowly.
  3. Stir in light corn syrup.
  4. Gradually add condensed milk stirring to avoid burning.
  5. Use a candy thermometer to warm mixture over medium heat to approximately 245°F.
  6. In 12 to 15 minutes, the mixture should thicken to a moldable consistency.
  7. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla at last minute.
  8. Pour into a 9″ by 13″ pan lined with parchment paper.
  9. Let canna-caramel cool at room temperature.
  10. Cut into desired sizes and wrap with candy paper.

After it cools, you might sprinkle with coarse salt, shredded coconut, melted chocolate, or top with bits of dried fruit.

3. Salted Canna-Caramel Popcorn

Caramel popcorn is one of those treats you can’t get enough of. Blend in some cannabis, and you have a treat for gaming, watching a movie, or entertaining friends.

Ingredients

  • 12 plain popped popcorn
  • 1/8 cup canna-butter
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2 tsps. sea salt divided,
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 225° F.
  2. Pop the corn and set aside.
  3. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
  4. Melt canna-butter and butter in medium saucepan.
  5. Stir in the brown sugar, honey, and 1/2-teaspoon salt stirring constantly until mixture starts to bubble.
  6. Lower heat to a simmer and use a candy thermometer until mixture reaches 250°F.
  7. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and extract which will turn the mixture into a syrupy consistency.
  8. Before the caramel cools and starts to harden, pour this mixture over the popcorn in a large bowl and toss and stir to evenly coat the popcorn.
  9. Spread caramel coated popcorn in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets and sprinkle on the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt.
  10. Bake for 15 minutes, stir mixture to break up pieces and return to oven for 15 more minutes.
  11. Let cool slightly before serving.

You can also mix in nuts, pretzel pieces, toffee, and chocolate morsels to the popcorn before you mix in the canna-caramel.

What else can you do?

You can use canna-caramel in just about any recipe that calls for caramel. If you store some canna-caramel in a glass jar, you can always warm it in a microwave to restore its syrupy quality. You can drip it over bananas, ice cream, or pastries.

You can mix it in with baked goods like cookies or shortbread. Hopefully, these recipes will give you a good start. If you catch the caramel at just the right time, you can mix it with proteins and form snack bars.

With the cannabis diffused so much, you don’t have to worry about the hits from any one piece. You don’t have much worry about dosage so you can pop caramels throughout the day. Because the dosage depends on what you put in the canna-butter, that’s the opportunity to manage your intake.

Still, while that’s the chance to make it potent or not, you must experiment because the potency and strain can affect the taste.