How to make the perfect holiday cannabutter board

The Tiktok algorithm strikes again! Food trends on Gen Z’s favorite app move at the speed of light, from weird flavor combos to “hacks” to pure clickbait. But one take on a dairy delight has captured our collective imagination enough to make it to the pages of the New York Times. Yes, I’m talking about butter boards. 

What is a butter board?

A butter board is exactly what it sounds like—think a slab of smooth, heavily-seasoned butter primed for dipping with both sweet and savory snacks. Whether you love them or hate them, national media has decided that butter boards are hot. As holidays approach, they make for a twist on the tried-and-true charcuterie board that dominated our summer picnics. 

You can season your butter board sweet or savory, with toppings that range from lemon zest to honey to fruit to nuts to flowers. But we decided to go one step further and find a way to have your butter board get you baked too.

We consulted Sheila Dedenbach, the founder and owner of Heavenly Sweet edibles company, who has been producing cannabutter-infused treats for 15 years. The company also sells a 1000 mg ready-made cannabutter perfect for the occasion. She’s seen the butter board craze and hopes it sticks around for the season.

“Combining things with butter is not a new concept at all; it was originally a French technique where they would use compound betters. I think this is just a way a different way of serving it,” she tells Leafly. “The recipe I wrote was savory, but I could see it with a maple syrup drizzle, some cinnamon, and some fresh fruit—there’s a lot of diversity. And I hope anybody who’s hosting any type of communal type of event, that you notify your guests that there’s cannabis in it.”

Dedenbach has prepared a Margherita-inspired butter board recipe in a cookbook zine for consumers in California and was kind enough to share it with us. This butter board feeds 12 and uses a 10 mg dose concentration per volume.

But before you go about spreading butter on every board in sight, Dedenbach urges caution with double-dipping and forgetting potency: “Once you’ve consumed it, you’re in for the ride.”

Dosing is crucial with a butter board because it won’t be 100% accurate, so make sure everyone who approaches it for a schmear knows what to expect. Furthermore, most people at parties want to pop champagne or mix a cocktail or two.

Alcohol can increase the intensity of your edible cannabis high because it acts as a solvent and allows THC to more effectively enter the bloodstream. Always follow the “start low and go slow” adage, and maybe ask your friend to drive you home.

Equipment:

• A board of your choosing (marble works great)
• Mixing bowl
• Parchment paper
• Electric mixer
• Knife or frosting tool

Ingredients:

• 8.8 oz high-fat salted butter (room temp)
• 1 Tb Heavenly Sweet cannabutter (or your own)
• 4 oz goat cheese
• 3 Tbs tomato pesto
• 6 cloves of minced roasted garlic
• 2 Tbs minced basil leaves
• 2 Tbs roasted pine nuts
• Coarse salt
• Black pepper
• A loaf of warm/toasted bread 

Note: You are more than welcome to make your own cannabutter if dispo-bought isn’t accessible, but dosing will be even trickier. We recommend you try out the recipe a few times before unleashing it on friends and family.

How to make a butter board with cannabutter

Dedenach’s recipe calls for creating a compound butter, or butter that has herbs and other dairy products added to it for spreadability. This is crucial to ensuring your butter board infusion is evenly distributed, and won’t excessively dose one guest while the rest get none.

1. Before anything, your butter, cannabutter, and goat cheese should be softened and at room temperature. Do not use a microwave, as this can compromise the cannabinoids in the cannabutter. 
2. In a mixing bowl, combine your butter, cannabutter, and goat cheese. Mix and whip on high for 5-7 minutes until the consistency is light and fluffy. This texture is crucial for even dosing and ease of use.
3. Spread your compound butter on your clean board (do not use a cutting board). We recommend laying down parchment paper to minimize the mess.
   1. It might be tempting to just slather it all on the board at once. But taking more time to arrange individual dollops to spread will make it easier for you and your guests to eyeball their dose. For example, if your total butter board contains 50 mg of THC, you can arrange the butter in 20 2.5mg doses to ensure no one gets overwhelmed. 
4. Spread the pesto evenly over the butter board.
5. Evenly sprinkle the pine nuts, garlic, and basil leaves.
6. Add salt and pepper and other seasonings of your choice.
7. Serve with warm bread, crackers, or a carb of your choice. 

A couple of pro tips from Leafly staff: The cannabutter should only make up a FRACTION of the butter for your board. A fully-infused butter board sounds fun, but most adults can’t handle more than 10 mg of THC without getting uncomfortable. The grassy taste will probably not agree with you either.

Pretty simple right? Go forth and let your tastebuds and endocannabinoid receptors prosper. Federal legalization may or may not be on the horizon, but it’s never too early to change your mind about all the things cannabis can be.

“I hope that people can see that cannabis is very approachable. I think edibles in particular are the most approachable vehicle for cannabinoids. Especially with the holidays coming, I think that this is a great way for people to see that ‘oh, it can be it can be lovely, and it would taste like anything else that you would make that is delicious.”