Easy Cannabis Hard Candy Recipe

Agitating the sugar solution by stirring it adds in temperature variance that can lead to crystallization; likewise, if a seed crystal does form, stirring the pot only helps to attract more molecules to its structure.

How To Make Cannabis Hard Candy

How to make cannabis hard candy with ingredients you already have at home.

• Candy thermometer
• Cannabis tincture (CBD or THC)
• Sugar
• Corn Syrup
• Powdered Jello
• Candy Molds or Lollipop Sticks

These days, it seems like everyone loves edibles! And what used to be THC brownies or These are popular among just about every demographic. While everyone has their favorite edible, there is something to be said for convenience and ease of these sweet treats. Even more, you can add THC or CBD from mind-bending recreational treats with over a hundred milligrams of THC to tiny microdoses of 2.5 milligrams of CBD found in cannabis hard candy.

Patients, in particular, love edibles because they are simple to dose, easy to make , and avoid some of the lingering (if unwarranted) stigma associated with smoking. For patients new to the medical cannabis experience, they also represent a delicious introduction. When dosed right (low and slow), edibles ease patients into the therapeutic benefits carefully and gently.

The Therapeutic Benefits of Cannabis Hard Candies

Cannabis hard candies, whether purchased from a dispensary or made at home, generally have a few properties in common: small dose, fast absorption, and discretion.

[bsa_pro_ad_space > The goal of medical cannabis is to settle on a dose that delivers the most therapeutic benefit with the least adverse effects. Unlike a hard-hitting hundred milligram dose of THC, which may be useful for chronic issues before bed, small cannabis hard candies are excellent for daily maintenance doses.

Throughout the day, cannabis-infused candies help maintain a long-duration of benefits without having to take a large single dose. After taking their initial treatment in the morning, patients may feel the effects wear off after three or four hours. By consuming a small cannabis hard candy at intervals throughout the day, it’s possible to keep the therapeutic benefits going for longer.

Furthermore, the cannabinoids contained in hard candies absorb quickly — likely much faster then what patients might expect from an edible. So long as it’s sucked on (and not chewed and swallowed), the therapeutic value is absorbed sublingually and avoids the delays of the digestive tract.

For patients with zero experience with cannabis, especially with the intoxicating cannabinoid THC, it’s best to start experimenting with cannabis hard candies at the lowest dose possible. What does a low dose mean? Most would suggest under five milligrams. For those patients familiar with the effects of THC, a ten-milligram dose will likely be quite manageable.

[bsa_pro_ad_space style=”font-size: medium;”>How to Make Cannabis Hard Candy – Recipe

The following is a simple recipe to make cannabis hard candy at home. Hard candies are an easy way to administer a dose of medical cannabis without smoking or vaping. Like all edibles, cannabis hard candy is a very discreet way to ingest cannabis, with no smell, vape cloud, or paraphernalia needed to consume. Keep a little container in your purse, pocket, or desk drawer and dose on the go.

Whether it is for others or yourself, be mindful of the dosage in the candy.

Ingredients :

1-2 tablespoons of cannabis tincture

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 box (3 oz) Jello of any flavor you like

Equipment:

Small heavy saucepan

20 lollipop sticks (or candy molds)

If you do not have mold, its ok there is a work around. Simply create a layer of icing sugar by spreading it on a pan. Create dents in the icing sugar the size that you would want to make the candy into, and you have your candy mold.

RELATED The Easiest Way to Make Cannabis-Infused Olive Oil

Directions:

1. Candy making is time-sensitive, gather all your equipment and ingredients before starting. If you need to make a powdered sugar mold, do so in advance.
2. If you are making lollipops or using a proper candy mold, grease them before you start with coconut oil. This step does not apply to the powdered sugar mold.
3. Over low heat, mix sugar and corn syrup in the saucepan. Stir until the sugar is fully dissolved.
4. Slowly bring the mixture to a boil. Watch the mixture at all times. Stir frequently, and be extremely careful. Hot melted sugar can cause serious burns.
5. Place the candy thermometer in the pot and let the mixture boil until it reaches 300°F to 310°F degrees. Keep stirring frequently.
6. When it reaches 300°F to 310°F degrees, remove the thermometer. Pour in the jello and cannabis tincture and rapidly stir until combined. This is the heat range for hard crack.
7. Remove from the heat. Using a metal spoon, pour the mixture into the candy molds. You have to move fast during this stage as it sets extremely quickly. Also, remember hot sugar burns. Be very careful.
8. Allow the candy to cool at room temperature. Do not place the candy in the refrigerator or freezer. As the candy cools, it will harden.
9. Once the hard candy or lollipops have cooled, you can lightly coat them in icing sugar. This will prevent them from sticking to each other when packaged.
10. Store in a glass or metal container, in a cool dry place.

How to Dose with Cannabis Hard Candy

Unlike the Jolly Ranchers stashed at the mechanics or the bowl of peppermints at the doctor’s office, don’t overindulge on these cannabis hard candies . The first dose of every batch should represent a taste test but also a dose test.

While it’s unlikely that cannabis-infused hard candies will knock you off your feet, there is always a chance. Maybe you made the candies larger than usual, or maybe it wasn’t evenly mixed. Try one hard candy, wait for the peak of effects at two hours, then reach for more if needed. The golden rule of medical cannabis is start low and go slow, and the same rule applies to cannabis hard candy.

Easy Cannabis Hard Candy Recipe

Cannabis hard candy packages, with their typically bright colors and promises of bold flavors, are a definite lure for hungry eyes when browsing around at the local dispensary. But do these delicious bits of weed candy lie only in the realm of the professional cannabis candy maker? Or can the home chef replicate these gem-like drops of THC goodness in their own personal kitchen?

Hard candies may seem like a recipe best left up to the pros but think again – Weed candy is surprisingly easy to whip up in your own home, and we’re here to tell you how. So let’s get to cooking!

How to Make Cannabis Hard Candy at Home

Though a fairly simple process, making hard candy at home (THC or otherwise) isn’t typically something thought of in our modern age. While hard candies don’t require a lot of technique or expensive ingredients, they do typically require at least a couple of pieces of specialty equipment, and having enough room to move and maneuver about in your kitchen is also fairly ideal. However, making your edibles doesn’t have to be complicated if you follow a few simple steps.

Candy Making 101

At its heart, candy making is about taking a form of sugar and melting it while reducing or removing any liquids it might be mixed with. As the sugar melts, the sucrose molecules within begin to break apart, eventually leading to caramel (or burned sugar) if left on the heat.

Different sweets are crafted by either manipulating this molten sugar or adding in various ingredients – Fats such as butter will lead to sweets such as caramel candies while subjecting molten sugar to centrifugal force is how we get cotton candy.

Most hard candy is made by combing sugar with water and bringing it to a certain temperature overheat – Once this temperature has been reached, the resulting mix can then be poured into molds to make individual candies. But while this simple, basic method can work, it isn’t without its flaws, and a few small tips can help make sure your hard candies turn out right every time.

Here are some tips to make your hard candies turn out successfully.

Add Corn Syrup

When sugar is melted via heat, the tendency is for the sucrose molecules to bind together in a crystalline form. Though this may sound like a good thing for making hard candy, it is not – These crystals swiftly lead to a grainy, gritty texture, not unlike the raw sugar crystals your sugar syrup started with. Therefore, when making candy, preventing these crystals is one of the key elements for success (and also the focus for our next tip below).

To prevent sucrose molecules from binding, another form of sugar is typically introduced. Enter: Corn syrup. This starchy glucose-based sweetener has smaller molecules than the sucrose molecules found in granulated sugar. Their introduction to the mix helps prevent the sucrose molecules from binding together just by getting in their way.

It doesn’t take much corn syrup to work as an effective crystallization preventative; our recipe below calls for 2/3rd of a cup, but some recipes only call for as little as a tablespoon. Ultimately a little more corn syrup won’t hurt the recipe, so we recommend going with a larger amount just to make sure everything stays nice and crystalized.

Also: Though we specifically focus on corn syrup here, invert sugar, honey, or even pure glucose will typically work as substitutes – We recommend corn syrup in particular due to its ease of use and availability. Though we invite you to play around with different types and amounts of ingredients for our basic recipe and for your first time, sticking to corn syrup will likely yield the best marijuana candy results.

Don’t Stir

In line with the above, stirring your candy solution once the temperature starts to rise is another big no-no if you want to prevent the formation of crystals (and you do). For crystals to form, they need what’s known as a “seed,” often a microscopically small crystal in its own right. Once this tiny seed crystal has formed, it begins to grow by attracting other like-minded molecules to it like a magnet; the more molecules attached, the bigger the crystal – The bigger the crystal, the more molecules that will be attracted.

Agitating the sugar solution by stirring it adds in temperature variance that can lead to crystallization; likewise, if a seed crystal does form, stirring the pot only helps to attract more molecules to its structure.

Though you can certainly stir together the water+sugar solution before turning on the heat, there’s no need, as the act of being heated will cause the two to blend perfectly without any manual help from the cook. And once the solution has started to heat? Your stirring spoon should be nowhere near the inside of your cooking vessel.

Brushing Down the Sides?

Many recipes will tell you to keep a kitchen brush and a small container of water nearby, and when you see any sugar solution that’s splattered up onto the interior wall of the put to dip the brush into the water and gently wash the errant sugar solution back down into the pan.

If you absolutely need to do this, then yes, this method will work. But in this humble editor’s 15+ years of making candy, neither they nor anyone they’ve spoken to has ever had to do this, and the candy of all parties involved always turns out just fine. So while there’s nothing wrong with being prepared for the worst, don’t expect to strictly need a brush nearby.

Candy Thermometer vs Cold Water Tests

If you’ve ever been around someone making candy of any sort before, odds are you’ve heard of the cold water test; take a bit of your molten-hot sugar solution, drip it into a small container of ice-cold water, wait for it to cool for a moment, and then touch it to see what it feels like. What this does is simulate what the candy will feel like once it cools off and reaches room temperature, letting you get a feel for how “done” your candy is without having to rely on a thermometer.

But, relying on a thermometer isn’t a bad thing or a sign of inherent weakness in your skills as a home cook. In fact, using a candy thermometer is a safer, more reliable method than the cold water test and can be particularly useful when making candy syrups and the like that should be pulled from the heat at lower temperatures.

Regardless of whether you use cold water or a candy thermometer, there are generally seven basic “stages” a sugar solution will go through when cooking. We’ll list the stage names, temperature ranges, and what to expect if using the cold water testing method.

Thread – 230 to 234°F: Creates thin, soft, malleable threads of sugar

Soft Ball – 234 to 240°F: Can be compressed into a soft-but-tangible ball of sugar

Firm Ball – 244 to 248°F: Can be compressed, but not easily

Hard Ball – 250 to 265°F: Difficult to mold and shape

Soft Crack – 270 to 290°F: Some flexibility but will eventually snap if bent/twisted

Hard Crack – 300 to 310°F: Easily and immediately snaps

Caramel – 320 to 338°F: Your sugar is now brown and past the point of candy making

Burned – 338°F+: Your sugar is now black, and your kitchen is filled with smoke

Add Flavors & Concentrates Last

Your sugar solution is going to be roiling hot long before it’s done, and this means other molecules trapped within will be lost in evaporation – Molecules like flavonoids that contribute to taste. Adding in your flavoring agent – or worse yet, your cannabis concentrate – early in the process means the majority of your flavors and THC will be boiled off into the atmosphere.

To prevent this, make adding your flavors and marijuana concentrate the very first thing you do after removing your candy solution from the heat. You only have a limited window of opportunity to work with the candy before it begins to set, so make sure to do this as soon as possible, stirring the mixture briefly to combine.

Pro Tip: If going for a fruit-based flavor, check to see if you should be adding citric acid (for orange, lemon, lime) or malic acid (strawberry, blueberry) to help enhance the taste. Though not strictly necessary, the addition (or lack) of the right kind of acid can make the difference between a good cannabis candy and a great cannabis candy.