How to make cannabis butter (cannabutter)

Cannabis butter — also known as cannabutter or magic butter — is the foundation of all cannabis baking: master it and you've mastered the cannabis brownie, cannabis cookies, sponge cake and pretty much any cannabis recipe.

It's very simple to make, keeps for months in the freezer and lets you dose precisely how much cannabis goes into each bite.

Please remember that this is informational content, based on a typical recipe from popular cannabis culture. If you ingest cannabis, you do so entirely at your own risk. Cannactiva products are not intended for ingestion.

The 3 key takeaways

• One tablespoon (approx. 15 g) of this butter, made with 250 g of butter and 7 g of buds at 10-20% THC, contains between 30 and 60 mg of THC. That's a high dose — start with half a teaspoon (approx. 2.5 g) if it's your first time.
• Preparation and cooking take around 3 hours (oven decarboxylation + 2-3 h of cooking on very low heat). It's then left to cool for 1 h at room temperature and rested for 24 h in the fridge, so the fat separates from the water.
• For a more relaxing version with a minimal THC percentage, make the same recipe with CBD flower or CBD small buds.

What cannabis butter is (and why it's made this way)

Cannabis butter — technically called cannabis-infused butter or cannabutter — is butter that has been infused with cannabis buds to extract their cannabinoids (THC, CBD and others). It's used to cook cannabis recipes, as it makes it easier to dose the amount of THC in the recipe.

The cannabutter recipe works because cannabinoids are fat-soluble: they dissolve in fats but not in water. The hot fat in the butter acts as the vehicle for extracting the cannabinoids.

But as well as the infusion, there's an important step to do first: activating the cannabinoids. The first step of the recipe is to put the buds in the oven so decarboxylation can take place, a step in which cannabinoids such as THCA turn into their active form, THC, and CBDA turns into CBD. That way, the butter will contain cannabinoids in their active form.

Cannabutter or bud straight into the dough?

If you're going to make cannabis cakes or cookies, it's better to use cannabutter than ground bud straight into the dough. The advantages of cannabutter include better cannabinoid extraction (because the fat dissolves them during the infusion), a more even distribution of cannabinoids across portions, and a less grassy flavour in the end result.

Once made, the butter can be used in any classic cannabis baking recipe, in the same proportion as regular butter. It's the base for practically every cannabis edible recipe: brownies, cookies, sponge cakes, pastries and even savoury dishes.

For around 200-220 g of cannabutter (approx. 13-14 tablespoons) you'll need:

A note on the raw material: the quality of the buds is what has the biggest impact on the end result. For a medium-high potency butter, look for buds with good trichome density and a known cannabinoid percentage. If you'd prefer a more relaxing version with less psychoactive effect, CBD flower or CBD small buds work exactly the same in this recipe.

Step-by-step recipe

Below is the recipe step by step. Most of the total time is unattended resting — the active work in the kitchen comes to around 3 h 30 min.

Step 0 — Decarboxylate the buds in the oven

Decarboxylation is the process that converts THCA into active THC (and CBDA into active CBD) using dry heat. Without this step, the cannabinoids don't activate properly and the butter will have very little potency, however long you cook it afterwards.

1. Preheat the oven to 110-115 °C (conventional top and bottom heat, no fan).
2. Break the buds up lightly with your hands. Don't grind them to a powder: leave pieces the size of a pea so activation is even without losing too many terpenes.
3. Spread them on a tray lined with baking paper in a thin layer, nice and even. As an optional extra, it's a good idea to cover the tray with aluminium foil.
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes, stirring halfway through so activation is even.
5. Take them out of the oven when they're dry and slightly golden (not brown or burnt) and leave them to cool before carrying on.

Key rule: never go above 120 °C. Above that temperature, THC starts to degrade into CBN and you lose potency.

Step 1 — Grind the decarboxylated buds

Once cool, grind the buds with a grinder until they're even and fine (not powder). An even grind ensures cannabinoid extraction is consistent throughout the butter.

Step 2 — Clean the buds in hot water (optional)

This step reduces the grassy flavour in the end result. If the typical vegetal aftertaste of edibles bothers you, it's worth doing. If your priority is to keep as much of the bud's terpenes and aroma as possible, skip it and go straight to Step 3.

If you do it:

1. Put the ground buds in a saucepan with very hot water for 20 minutes.
2. The water must not come to the boil. Keep the heat on the lowest setting; if you see bubbles, take the pan off the heat for a moment and put it back.
3. After 20 minutes, strain the buds and discard the water. Set the clean buds aside.

Technical note: this step washes out chlorophyll and other impurities, but also some terpenes. It's a flavour decision, not a potency one.

Step 3 — Infuse the butter and cannabis on very low heat

In a clean pan, melt the 250 g of butter with 250-500 ml of water. Once it has fully melted, transfer it to a bowl in a bain-marie and add the 7 g of decarboxylated, crumbled buds (cleaned or not, depending on whether you did Step 2).

Cook on very low heat for 2-3 hours, stirring every 20-30 minutes with a wooden spoon.

The ideal cooking temperature for the butter is between 70 and 85 °C, never above 90 °C. If you have a kitchen thermometer, use it: above 95 °C, THC starts to degrade.

Never let it boil: if you see bubbles breaking the surface, take the pan off the heat for a moment. The butter will gradually take on a green-gold colour as it infuses.

⏱ Why so long? Extraction is efficient at 70-85 °C but it takes time. Under 2 hours, the infusion is partial; between 2 and 3 hours you reach around 70% cannabinoid extraction. Beyond 3 hours, it doesn't add much more.

👨‍🍳 Why with water? The water keeps the temperature under control (it stops the butter getting too hot or burning), helps the extraction and carries away the rest of the impurities. If you're not using a bain-marie, the water is essential as a thermal buffer.

Variations on this step

An alternative is to cook the cannabis directly with the butter without water, in a bain-marie or a slow cooker. That way you skip the final step of separating the fat from the water: you just strain off the plant matter through muslin and the butter is ready. It's quicker, but temperature control is trickier: with no water to regulate the heat, it's easy to go over 100 °C and burn the butter or degrade the THC. We only recommend this method if you have a slow cooker (crockpot) or a sous vide that keeps the temperature stable at 70-85 °C for 2-3 hours. If you use a traditional bain-marie, keep an eye on the temperature with a thermometer and don't let the water in the bain-marie evaporate (you'll need to keep topping it up). The downside is that the butter turns out darker and with a grassier flavour (with no water to carry away the chlorophyll and bitter compounds).

This step can also be done without a bain-marie, putting the pan with the butter, water and buds directly on the hob, but it's not ideal: as the cooking lasts 2-3 hours at a low temperature (70-85 °C), a bain-marie gives much steadier temperature control and stops the butter going above 95 °C, the temperature at which THC starts to degrade.

Optional: skim off the foam when melting the butter

As the butter melts, before adding the buds, a whitish foam will rise to the surface. These are the milk solids (proteins, casein and whey), which separate from the pure fat. Skimming them off with a spoon or slotted spoon is optional — you can happily move on to Step 4.

If you'd like to know how this technique improves cannabutter, we've summed it up in three points:

• A more concentrated result. By removing the milk solids, you're left with more pure fat and the extraction is more efficient (the same THC is spread across a smaller final volume and the butter is more concentrated per gram). You can gain 10-15% in potency.
• The butter will stand up better to long cooking. Butter with milk solids starts to smoke and darken from 150 °C; without those solids (clarified butter) it holds up to 250 °C without spoiling. This is especially useful if you make the recipe without water or directly in a bain-marie, but if you have good temperature control, it shouldn't make a difference.
• It keeps better. Without milk solids, the butter keeps for up to 2-3 months in the fridge and a whole year frozen, compared with 2-3 weeks in the fridge (or 6 months frozen) for regular cannabutter.

The result is a semi-clarified butter: to clarify it fully, you'd need to pour just the yellow fat into another container, also discarding the white solids that settle at the bottom of the pan. This reduces the final volume of the butter by a further 25%, concentrating the cannabinoids even more — the butter would be considerably stronger per gram, so adjust the dose accordingly.

It's not an essential step, but if you're making a large batch or want to keep it for a long time, it's worth it.

Step 4 — Rest the cannabis butter for 1 h at room temperature + 24 h in the fridge

After the 2-3 hours of slow cooking, strain the mixture through a stainless steel sieve into a glass container (the shallower and wider, the better — it makes separating it later easier).

Glass is better than plastic because the freshly strained butter is still hot, and fat at high temperatures can release microcompounds from soft plastics. If you don't have one, you can also use a wide stainless steel pan or tray.

Gently press the bud remains in the sieve with a spoon to drain out the butter trapped in them — without squeezing hard, because pressing hard releases chlorophyll and fine particles that give the butter a bitter flavour and a greenish colour. Then discard the plant matter.

Leave the liquid butter to rest at room temperature for 1 hour, until it has cooled. Then put it in the coldest part of the fridge (the top shelf) and leave it to rest for 24 hours without moving it.

⏱ Why does it need such a long rest? As it cools, the mixture separates by density into two layers: the fat (where the cannabinoids, terpenes and aromas are concentrated) rises and solidifies into a firm slab; the water and water-soluble impurities (residual chlorophyll, pigments, plant matter) stay at the bottom. The 24 hours in the cold are what ensure the separation is complete and the butter slab is even, easy to turn out and clean-tasting.

After that time, the butter will have solidified completely into an even yellowish-green slab floating on a layer of cloudy water.

Step 5 — Separate the butter slab from the water

Take the container out of the fridge. Carefully, using a spatula or knife, press around the sides as if you were turning out a crème caramel: the solidified butter slab will come away from the water underneath.

Lift out the butter slab, let any drops drain off and store it in an airtight container in the fridge. Drain the leftover water from the container and throw it away.

Step 6 — Label it and store it in the fridge or freezer

Your cannabutter is ready to use!

• For use soon (over the next few weeks), keep the butter slab in an airtight glass jar in the fridge. It keeps for 2-3 weeks, or up to 2-3 months if you've semi-clarified it.
• You can store it in the freezer, where it keeps for 6 months and up to 1 year if semi-clarified.
• For dosing, the best option is to freeze it in cubes. A standard ice cube tray holds 15 g per cube (1 tablespoon). With cubes, you only defrost what you're going to use and the rest stays untouched (it keeps better).

Label the container with its contents: “Cannabis butter”, the date it was made and the dose per tablespoon.

Keep it out of reach of children, older people and pets, and let anyone you share a kitchen with know, to avoid mix-ups.

Now you know how to make cannabis butter. Remember to consume it in moderation and bear in mind that cannabis is metabolised differently when it's ingested than when it's smoked. The peak effect can take longer to appear (between 30 and 90 minutes), but the effects are more intense and longer-lasting than when smoking.

Cannabis butter: dose, potency and cost

There are three questions every cannabutter recipe has to answer: how much cannabis to use for a given potency, how much THC ends up in each tablespoon of the final product and how much it costs to make at home. We break them down below.

THC dose per gram

Bear in mind that the mg of THC per tablespoon are always approximate figures, not exact measurements. They depend on three variables that change from one recipe to the next:

• The THC % of the bud you use, which varies a lot in today's cannabis (between 8% and 25%, depending on the strain).
• The combined efficiency of decarboxylation and extraction, which with this recipe is around 60%, assuming you decarboxylate properly in the oven, which converts roughly 88% of the bud's THCA into active THC, and that the extraction into the butter keeps roughly 70% of that THC. In other words: 0.88 × 0.70 = 0.60 approx. That's why skipping the oven leaves the efficiency at just 15-25%: cooking at 70-85 °C on its own doesn't activate the THCA.
• Losses during straining and resting: some of the butter gets trapped in the muslin, in the bud remains and in the water you throw away (around 15-20% of the starting volume).

Treat the figures in the following sections as a rough guide, not an exact lab measurement. And above all, with edibles the golden rule applies: always start with less and wait 90-120 minutes before having more. The effect kicks in late and lasts a long time — you can go up, but you can't come down.

How many grams of buds did you use per 250 g of butter?

The potency of the cannabutter will depend on the amount of buds you put into the recipe. Here's the approximate dose per tablespoon (assuming buds at 10-15% THC and an efficiency of approx. 60%):

• 3-4 g of buds → approx. 10-20 mg of THC per tablespoon (approx. 14-15 g). Mild potency, ideal for beginners.
• 5-6 g of buds → 20-30 mg per tablespoon. Medium-low potency, moderate dose.
• 7-8 g of buds → 25-40 mg per tablespoon. Medium-high potency.
• 10 g of buds → 35-55 mg per tablespoon. High potency.
• 14 g+ of buds → 50-75 mg per tablespoon. Very high potency. Above 14 g, the butter becomes saturated and doesn't extract any more cannabinoids.

As a reference dose: in countries where THC gummies are authorised, the regulations set the standard single dose at 10 mg of THC per unit. Under 10 mg of actual THC per portion is considered a low dose; 10-25 mg is medium; over 25 mg is high.

For a first time, start with half a teaspoon (approx. 2.5 g) — that's a low dose with any of the proportions above (between 2 and 13 mg of THC) — and wait 90-120 minutes before eating more: cannabis edibles take 45-90 min to kick in, but the effect lasts between 4 and 8 hours.

How much does cannabis butter cost?

The cost depends on the price of the buds you use, which varies a lot depending on quality, source and local market — from a few euros per gram for home-grown up to considerably higher figures in regulated markets.

As a price reference, buds at a cannabis social club in Spain cost around €7-14/g (depending on quality). For the standard recipe with 7 g of buds, that comes to around €55-90 and you get about 200-220 g of cannabutter.

If you'd rather make the version with CBD flower (more relaxing and with less psychoactive effect), it costs around €2.50/gram depending on the strain and how much you buy (bought in bulk, the price per gram is cheaper).

How to use cannabutter

Once it's made, cannabutter is used exactly like regular butter, in the same proportion. These are the most popular recipes, and they all work with this same butter:

• Cannabis brownie — the classic of cannabis culture. One tray makes 8 portions; 125 g of this butter is enough.
• Cannabis cookies — easier to dose (1 cookie = 1 controlled portion). Ideal for beginners.
• Cannabis oil — the alternative with olive or coconut oil if you prefer a more fluid or vegan fat.
• Herbal teas — a little cannabutter in a hot herbal tea with milk is a quick, gentle way to try the effect.

Frequently asked questions about cannabis butter

Why is the oven step needed if the cannabis is already heated when infusing the butter?

Because decarboxylation (the chemical reaction that converts the bud's THCA into active THC) needs a specific, constant temperature to happen properly: around 110-120 °C for 30-40 minutes. At that temperature, ~88% of the THCA turns into THC.

During the infusion in butter, on the other hand, the mixture stays at 70-85 °C (no higher, so as not to burn the fat or degrade the THC). At such a low temperature, the conversion of THCA into THC is very slow and incomplete — however long the cooking lasts, 2 or 3 hours doesn't make up for it.

The result of skipping the oven is clear: the overall efficiency of the process drops from ~60% to 15-25%. In other words, your butter will be 3 to 4 times less potent with the same amount of bud. That's why, even though it may seem like a redundant step, it's the most important one in the whole recipe.

How should you store cannabis butter once it's made?

Keep the butter in an airtight container in the fridge. You can also freeze it to keep it for longer.

Can you make the butter with cannabis leaves instead of buds?

It's better to use buds rather than leaves, because they have a higher concentration of cannabinoids, which will give you a more potent butter.

What type of cannabis is best to use, sativa or indica?

It depends on your preferences. Sativa tends to be more energising, while indica is more relaxing. You can choose according to the effect you want — more on the difference in our sativa vs indica guide.

Can you use margarine instead of butter?

You can, but it's not recommended, because the result is completely different, with a different flavour and texture. What's more, most margarines contain very unstable fats that aren't designed for heating or baking.

You can follow the recipe replacing the butter with margarine in the same proportions, using lower temperatures than with butter (margarine stands up to heat less well than butter), although it's generally not recommended because the result isn't very good in terms of the product's stability and quality. If it's your only option, substitute it in the same proportions, keep the heat below 70 °C and use a bain-marie.

Can you make vegan cannabis butter with coconut oil?

Yes, coconut oil is a good option to replace butter. It contains 90% saturated fat (compared with 65% for butter), so it extracts more cannabinoids (up to 20-30% more THC/CBD per gram). It's vegan, lactose-free, stands up better to heat and keeps for longer.

To adapt the recipe, replace the 250 g of butter with 250 g of virgin coconut oil (refined if you want it without the coconut flavour), don't add water and cook at 70-85 °C for 2-3 hours in a bain-marie. Strain and store in a glass jar in the fridge — it solidifies below 24 °C.

As it's solid when cold, in baking it makes cookies crunchier and brownies a little denser.

Can you make it with ghee or clarified butter?

Ghee is clarified butter taken one step further: the milk solids are lightly browned until they taste of toasted nuts, leaving 99% pure fat, with practically no water or milk solids — the two components that make regular butter go rancid.

The main advantage is that it keeps for much longer: up to 6-12 months in the fridge and more than 1 year frozen, with no noticeable loss of potency. It's an ideal option if you're going to make a large batch to keep for several months. For home recipes you'll use up within a few weeks, it isn't worth it.

How to adapt the recipe: replace the 250 g of butter with 200-220 g of ghee or clarified butter and follow all the other steps the same way, without adding water. Use a bain-marie or a slow cooker at 70-85 °C for 2-3 hours.

If you don't want to buy ghee, you can clarify the butter yourself before you start: melt 250 g of butter on very low heat, skim off the white foam that rises to the surface, leave it to stand for 5 min and pour just the golden-yellow fat into another container (discard the little white lumps at the bottom). You'll have about 200 g of clarified butter ready to infuse.

How long does cannabis butter keep?

If stored properly in the fridge, it can last several weeks. In the freezer, this butter keeps well for several months.

Our recommendation

The CBD strains best suited to baking are those with a sweet or fruity profile — their terpenes go better with doughs, chocolate and fruit than more herbal or citrusy strains. Four examples from our range that work particularly well:

Cannactiva's CBD flower is sold as an industrial hemp product for external use. Any other preparation or use is the user's responsibility. Cannabis containing THC is not legal in most European countries and each country has its own rules; in some, such as the UK, hemp flower is controlled even when its THC content is low.