Baked Bees creates medicated honey designed to relieve the aches and pains of medical patients whether they are 25 or 95 years old.
"Anything you can put honey on, you can now medicate it," said Max, the founder of Baked Bees and Maxx Power Edibles.
Their honey bears come in a solely THC version, as well as a version medicated with a balanced one-to-one ratio of CBD to THC. This THC/CBD honey won a Third Place prize at the recent HIGH TIMES Cannabis Cup in NorCal for its relaxing buzz.
Seeking a consistent, predictable effect, senior citizens have proved to be early adopters of this product, reporting considerable mood elevation and therapeutic relief when added to tea.
"Everything feels good," Max said. "The things that were bothering you aren't so noticeable anymore."
With such a versatile pantry ingredient, it's easy for anyone to whip up delightfully dosed treats at home. We've selected recipes appropriate for all skill levels, from Burned Toast Beginner to Marijuana Master Chef. Keeping medicated honey on hand along with basic infusions like cannabutter and tinctures allows for more flexibility in your cannabis cookery.
Bonus: Learn how to make your own medicated honey with this recipe for Honey Buzz from Chef Payton Curry!
1. Make Breakfast Sweet, Creamy and Elevating.
You can use this simple recipe in a pinch to liven up a party or entertain unexpected guests. The creamy sweet spread is excellent on crackers or a cinnamon raisin bagel, which is a soothing way to start your day.
It's important that your cream cheese be very soft at room temperature to give the spread a smooth texture. Toasting your walnuts in a skillet over medium-high heat for a few minutes will add an extra depth of flavor. If you'd prefer less sweetness in your spread, leave out the brown sugar.
Heavenly Honey Walnut Cream Cheese
Ingredients:
3 tbsp medicated honey (1 Baked Bees Mini Honey Bear, 60 grams)
3 oz cream cheese, softened completely at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 oz chopped walnuts, toasted
Mix all ingredients in a small bowl or mixer until completely emulsified. Refrigerate until firm. Return to room temperature before using.
If using a Baked Bees THC Bear, this recipe makes 3 servings or 6 doses at 10 mg per dose.
If using the CBD/THC 50:50 Bear, you will get 3 doses of 15 mg CBD and 15 mg THC.
2. Liven Up a Healthy Salad.
Medicated honey makes it easy to add cannabis to a healthy lifestyle, especially since there's no need for fat-based infusions. This simple salad dressing can be modified in all sorts of ways. Use balsamic vinegar or substitute fresh squeezed lemon juice instead of the apple cider vinegar for bright acidity.
Honey Mustard Salad Dressing
Ingredients:
3 tbsp medicated honey (1 Baked Bees Mini Honey Bear, 60 grams)
1 heaping tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
Whisk the medicated honey, mustard and vinegar together in a small bowl. Drizzle in the olive oil while whisking until completely emulsified. Toss with mixed salad greens, sliced apples, dried cranberries and toasted walnuts.
If using a Baked Bees THC Bear, this recipe makes 3 servings or 6 doses at 10 mg per dose.
If using the CBD/THC 50:50 Bear, you will get 3 doses of 15 mg CBD and 15 mg THC
3. Squeeze It Into Sauce.
Adding medicated honey to sauces lends valuable flexibility to menu planning while making correct dosing very easy. Simply create two sauces for a big weekend barbecue cook out, one that's medicated and one that's "normal," making sure to clearly label them. Then you can offer to add the spiked sauce to pieces of chicken for interested party goers without changing your meal planning much at all.
If you're using a 5 oz Baked Bees THC Bear, with 200 milligrams of total THC, then the resulting 48 ounces of sauce would contain approximately 4.16 mg of THC per ounce. Each tablespoon would contain about 2.08 milligrams of THC, making 5 tablespoons of sauce into a 10.5 mg dose. Slather responsibly!
Easy Medicated Baked Bees BBQ Sauce
Ingredients:
1 40 oz. bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
10 tbsp of medicated honey (1 large Baked Bees Honey Bear, 5 oz)
4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp salt
Fresh cracked pepper
In a sauce pot, warm the vegetable oil. Sauté onion until translucent, and season with salt and pepper.
Add the barbecue sauce, medicated honey and apple cider vinegar. Bring to a boil while stirring, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour. Cool to room temperature, then store in a container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
The sauce is best when used as a dip or brushed on after cooking. If you apply before cooking, BBQ sauce can burn on the food due to the high sugar content. Exposing THC to high temps above 300ºF, such as on a grill, could vaporize the medicine out of the food and reduce the potency of your dish. Even if your oven is set to 350ºF, the food inside won't reach the same temperature. Chicken is done when the inner temperature of the meat reaches 165ºF, so use a meat thermometer to check.
I roasted chicken drumettes and wings at 350ºF for 30 minutes, then brushed them with the sauce (reserving 1/3 cup separately) before returning to the oven for an additional 15 minutes. After the chicken was roasted through, I brushed it with the reserved sauce, and it was plenty potent.
If using a 5 oz Baked Bees THC Bear, this recipe makes 20 doses at 10 mg per dose (100 tablespoons total).
4. Drizzle It on a Gourmet Pizza.
As an East Coast transplant from New York, my husband has grown to love making pizza at home since we've become California residents. It's the best way to find the crispy thin crust slices he loves so much. We've hosted pizza night parties using medicated sauce, but you can easily add cannabis to your pizza by drizzling it with weed honey as well!
If you want to make fresh medicated pizzas at home, but you don't want to fuss with making dough, then purchase ready-made dough from a pizzeria or larger supermarket with a pizza bar. If you choose to make your own dough, then we highly recommend Mario Batali's recipe.
At home, we use a pizza stone to get the crispiest crust, but you can also bake your pie on a baking sheet.
Don't drizzle the honey on the pizza before baking it, since the hot oven temps will cause it to caramelize and burn, losing THC potency. Drizzle it afterwards to add a sweet note that balances the salty prosciutto and tangy Gorgonzola.
Prosciutto, Pear and Gorgonzola Pizza
Ingredients:
1 12 inch diameter fresh pizza dough, rolled out very thin
2 tbsp heavy cream
3 oz mozzarella cheese, grated
1 lb prosciutto, cut in pieces
1/2 Bosc pear, cored and cut into thin slices
2 oz Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
6 tbsp medicated honey
Panko breadcrumbs, for sprinkling under the dough
Preheat oven to at least 450ºF, or as high as it will go. My oven taps out at 550ºF.
Roll out your dough and sprinkle plenty of Panko breadcrumbs underneath it before you place it on a pizza peel or baking sheet. The panko will help keep your finished pizza from sticking to the sheet pan.
Working quickly, brush pizza dough with heavy cream, then sprinkle it evenly with mozzarella cheese. Top with sliced pears, pieces of prosciutto and crumbled Gorgonzola.
Bake in oven on a pizza stone or sheet pan for 5 to 8 minutes, watching for brown crust and bubbling cheese.
Slice pizza pie into 6 pieces, and drizzle each piece with 1 tbsp of Baked Bees Medicated Honey.
If using a Baked Bees THC Honey Bear, this recipe will yield 6 servings, with each slice containing 2 doses of 10 mg THC.
5. Dissolve It Into a Syrup to Drench Dessert.
Baklava is an excellent dessert to medicate, especially since it uses copious amounts of butter. Add several tablespoons of cannabutter, plus a cup of medicated honey to doubly-dose this sinfully sweet treat. Adding crumbled bacon to the filling suffuses the entire pastry with a subtle smoky porky flavor, but you can easily leave it out for a vegetarian version.
Don't be intimidated by working with phyllo dough; it's surprisingly easy as long as you pay attention to the handling instructions on the package. I used whole wheat phyllo, which seemed a little bit tougher and more resilient. This recipe was adapted from Teresa Gilliam's Bacon 24/7 cookbook.
Bacon Bud Baklava
Ingredients:
2 cups raw walnut pieces
2 cups raw pistachio meats
1 cup cooked and crumbled bacon (about 12 slices)
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 cup unsalted butter, melted (2 sticks)
1/4 cup cannabutter, melted
1 16 oz package of phyllo dough, thawed
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup medicated honey
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 cup orange blossom water
Equipment: Sheet pan with sides (jelly roll pan) and a food processor
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Pulse the walnuts and pistachios in a food processor a few times until they are crumbled. Add the bacon, sugar and cardamom and pulse a few more times until evenly combined. Don't grind too much or the nuts will turn into meal.
Begin layering the baklava. Brush your sheet pan with melted butter. Make sure the phyllo sheets will fit on the pan, if not, you will need to use a sharp knife to trim the pastry sheets to fit. It's important to use a sheet pan with edges, otherwise your syrup will drip everywhere.
Unroll the phyllo dough and cover the sheets with wax paper while you are working so they don't dry out. Read the handling instructions on the package.
Lay a sheet of phyllo on the sheet pan and brush it evenly with melted butter. Repeat with another 5 sheets. Not every sheet needs to be coated entirely, and you don't want so much butter that it begins to pool up. Spread 1/3 cup of the bacon nut mixture evenly over the phyllo. Top the nuts with two sheets of buttered phyllo, and add another layer of nuts. Repeat until all of the nut mixture has been used. Cover the nuts with at least 5 remaining buttered phyllo sheets.
Use a sharp knife to cut the uncooked baklava into 24 square pieces. Bake until the pastry is brown and crisp, about 35 minutes.
Meanwhile, create your medicated honey syrup. Combine the water, honey and sugar in a saucepan. Heat the mixture on low until the sugar has dissolved. Add the cinnamon stick and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat slightly and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and add the orange blossom water. Pour the syrup evenly over the baklava when it comes out of the oven, making sure to get it in every crack. Allow the syrup to soak in for several hours before serving.
If you are using Baked Bees THC Honey Bears, 1 cup of honey will contain 320 milligrams of THC. If you yield 24 pieces of baklava, each piece will contain approximately 13 mg of THC. Adding cannabutter will increase the potency, if desired.
