Dear Cheri,

I recently came across using cannabis flour or cannaflour.  What is cannaflour?  How do I make cannaflour?  Do you have any other tips for using cannabis flour?

Cannaflour is easy to make, and easy to use.  It’s a convenient cannabis culinary staple to keep on hand as once you have it you can make edibles anytime.  Simply substitute some or all of your recipe’s flour for cannaflour.

Pros of Cannabis Flour

• Quick, easy, and mess free to make
• Stores for long periods without refrigeration
• Easy to use
• Because you are consuming the whole plant, this is a healthy way to get your full spectrum cannabis.

Cons of Cannaflour

• Depending on the recipe and amount of cannaflour used, the food can taste weedy.  Mitigate this by using recipes with lots of strong flavor or by using a bigger ratio of flour to cannabis when making the cannabis infused flour.

What do you need to make cannabis flour?

• A food processor or a coffee grinder. 
• A large bowl.
• A mixing spoon or an electric mixer with the whisk attachment.
• Flour, all-purpose is most versatile but you can make Cannaflour with any type of flour.
• Decarboxylated cannabis.  

How to Make Cannabis Flour

Now when making edibles I usually tell people NOT to finely grind the weed for flavor reasons, but making cannaflour is the exception to that rule.  And in this case, the finer the better.

That’s because the finer you can grind your decarbed cannabis the more seamlessly it will integrate into your flour.

Steps to making Cannaflour

• 1. Decarboxylate or activate your cannabis.
• Grind the decarbed weed into a fine powder using a coffee or spice grinder, or a powerful food processor.
• Mix the powdered decarbed cannabis and flour (see more about ratios below)

Dosages and ratios when making cannaflour

To calculate the dosages when using cannabis flour in edibles recipes, you can use my dosage calculator and treat it like any other infusion. Instead of infusing butter or oil, you will be infusing the flour.

It is important to weigh the flour when making cannaflour in order to get the most accurate results.

When it comes to how much cannabis to flour ratios, in my comprehensive online Cannabis Cooking Course, I demonstrate using a 1/2 ounce, or 14 grams, of decarbed cannabis to 16 ounces or 1 pound of flour.

So far this ratio has worked well when substituted 1 for 1 for flour in all the recipes I have tried it in.  This includes a wide variety including cakes, cookies, breads, and quick breads.  I suppose if you have a very fussy recipe it might affect it, and if anyone discovered one, let me know.

Also keeping the cannabis at this ratio gives you a decent dosage without making a horrible tasting edible, depending on the strength of the cannabis of course. 

With cannabis flour you are eating the entire plant, which has health benefits, but can sometimes result in a weedy flavor.  But I find at this ratio it’s not bad, and depending on what you are making, it can disappear almost entirely. 

See the post on improving flavor in edibles for more details on improving the flavor of your homemade edibles.

Storing Cannabis Flour

Store in a dark dry place.  There’s really no storage limit within reason. Cannaflour will last as long you would feel comfortable using regular flour, which can usually be long after the expiration date.  

The only potential problem would happen if you weed is not completely dry as water invites mold growth.  But cured decarbed cannabis in theory at least should never have that issue.

More details on making and using Cannaflour

More detailed information about making and using cannaflour can be found in my comprehensive online course Easy Cannabis Cooking for Home Cooks.