A Cosmic Muffin Recipe For the Times

Photo by Shutterstock (Collage inspired by @lizbarclay_)
You could say Vanessa Lavorato knows a thing or two about cooking with cannabis. Not only is she co-host of Viceland’s weed-infused cooking show Bong Appétit, but she also owns her own confectionery, Marigold Sweets. At the recent Miss Grass Get Good at Weed Virtual Summit on 4/20, Lavorato led us all in a good vibes-filled workshop on how to infuse your own cannabutter—a process that looks like it wouldn’t be too tricky to accomplish yourself. (But if you’re feeling chilllll, you could use an oil infuser instead.) Here, she shares one of her favorite ways to use up that cannabutter goodness: in a batch of super tasty cosmic blueberry crumble muffins. Make 'em now, make 'em tomorrow, make 'em whenever you want to eat something that you can pretend isn't *secretly* a mini cake dessert.
“Muffins are just cupcakes in disguise,” says Lavorato. “Except, instead of a cloying frosting mounded on top, they’re laced with a lighter accoutrement, like a crumble.”

The sugar, flour, and butter crumble topping is also a great way to dose a treat. “If someone is opposed to edibles, you can easily omit the crumble or quickly whip together a weed-free version without having to make two batters,” Lavorato explains. To double up on the blueberry flavor, she also recommends using Blueberry buds when doing your infusing.

The Best Weed Blueberry Muffin Recipe by Vanessa Lavorato

Brown Butter Crumble:

1g of flower
½ stick / 56.5g unsalted butter
½ cup / 100g sugar
½ cup / 60g AP flour
⅛ tsp salt

Preheat your oven to 245°F (118°C). Break up the gram of weed, remove the stems, place on a sheet pan lined with parchment or in a baking dish and decarb in the oven for 20 minutes (you can do less time for less stoney effects). Let cool, then grind. While the weed is decarbing, combine the flour, sugar and salt; set aside. Melt the butter in a small saucepan on medium low, add the decarbed weed and whisk until the butter begins to caramelize and turn brown (roughly six to ten minutes). Pour the melted butter through a strainer into the flour and mix to make a fine buttery sand. Measure the total weight (200g) and divide between 18 muffins.

Batter:
2 cups / 240g AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup / 200g sugar
½ cup / 118ml vegetable oil
1 tbsp vanilla
½ tsp salt
½ cup / 120g plain yogurt *if using greek, add an additional 2 tsp lemon juice
¼ cup / 60ml lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 cup / 180g blueberries

Line a muffin tin with paper cups. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside. In a large bowl with a handheld mixer or stand mixer, beat the egg until light and frothy then slowly add the sugar; beat until lighter in color and thick. Add the oil, vanilla, salt, yogurt, lemon juice and zest; mix together. Gently mix in the dry ingredients by hand until just combined. Add the blueberries (saving some for the tops) and scoop into the paper cups. Dot with extra blueberries and sprinkle with equal amounts of brown butter crumble. Bake for 20-22 minutes; until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Christina Pérez is the Senior Content + Creative Director at Miss Grass. She has written for Vogue, Condé Nast Traveler, GQ, Departures, Architectural Digest, Glamour, Domino, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, InStyle, Gossamer, Refinery29, and many more.