Beginner’s Guide to Cooking, Baking & Making with Hemp 

Does food + Hemp equal pure happiness? We’re on a mission to combine two of our favorite things – Hemp and eating – to make getting our daily dose in a whole new, fun way. Cooking and baking with Hemp is an ultra-creative way to heal yourself with Hemp, and it can also give your body a boost in the way it absorbs the cannabinoids. Because Hemp, like most cannabinoids, is fat-soluble, pairing it with a fatty substance in your cooking or baking will help your body to better absorb it. Let’s get started on the tastiest way to improve our mood and relieve, relax and rejuvenate!

Donning your Hemp Chef’s hat

One of the most exciting things about cooking with Hemp is that it goes with almost anything and can be added to almost any dish. Because it is fat-soluble, it won’t dissolve in water but it will work the same way as your regular oil or butter and dissolve in fat – so you can use it in the same manner that you would use either of those ingredients. Be mindful of the temperature that you are exposing the Hemp to when you cook, as the heat can impact the effectiveness of the Hemp – so avoid the hottest temperatures if you can, and add the oil in after the food is exposed to the high heat.

Getting sweet with Hemp

As baking usually involves butter or oil, it’s extremely easy to substitute or add your Hemp oil or tincture to the recipe – it won’t even change the texture or consistency. The majority of baked goods aren’t cooked at temperatures that will lessen the effects of Hemp, so you will be mostly good to go on that front – but you also don’t even need to bake the Hemp oil at all to enjoy it with your pastry creation. Just add some drops to the filling, icing, or sauce you plan to drizzle it with, and viola!

Your Hemp measuring cups

Just like with finding your normal Hemp dosage, this could be a process of trial and error. To start with, stick with the normal amount that you would take and add it to your recipe, unless you are cooking or baking for others, in which case, multiply your dosage by the number of people it will be serving. This also works when you are batch cooking for yourself. If you are new to Hemp, err on the side of caution and start slow with a lower dosage that you can increase over time as your body reacts. 

The good stuff

Now, let’s get to the edibles! Here are some of our favorite ways to incorporate Full Spectrum Zen’s All Natural Hemp Peppermint Tincture into some tasty treats:

Peppermint Mocha (perfect for the holiday season!)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond milk
• ¼  cup espresso (1 large 1-2 oz shot)
• ¼  teaspoon Full Spectrum Zen’s All Natural Hemp Peppermint Tincture 
• ½ teaspoon cacao powder
• 1 teaspoon monk fruit or stevia

Instructions:

1. In a pan or microwave, heat almond milk until warm.
2. Whisk in peppermint Hemp, cocoa powder, and sweetener.
3. Whisk until warm and frothy.
4. Pour milk mixture into a mug, and top with espresso.

Chocomint Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 large eggs
• 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 750 mg Full Spectrum Zen’s All Natural Hemp Peppermint Tincture 
• 2 ¼ cups flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Using an electric mixer, combine softened butter and sugars until soft and fluffy (approximately 2–3 minutes). Add eggs and mix well. Add vanilla extract and Hemp oil and blend on low until all ingredients are incorporated.
3. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well with an electric mixer or wooden spoon until smooth. Do not overmix. Stir in chocolate chips with a wooden spoon.
4. Scoop tablespoon-size drops of cookie dough onto ungreased cookie sheets approximately 2 inches apart. Bake in a preheated oven approximately 20-24 minutes, or until golden brown.
5. Use a spatula to transfer hot cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Peppermint Candy Drops

Ingredients:

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup water
• ¾ cup light corn syrup
• ½ teaspoon Full Spectrum Zen’s All Natural Hemp Peppermint Tincture 
• 1 drop red food coloring (Optional)
• ⅛ cup confectioners’ sugar

Instructions:

1. In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, combine the sugar, water and corn syrup. Cook, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved; then cook without stirring, lowering the heat and cooking more slowly during the last few minutes, to the hard crack stage (300 degrees F), If sugar crystals form on sides of pan, wipe them off with a damp brush.
2. Remove from heat, add oil flavoring and enough food coloring to color; stir only to mix. Pour into 2 well buttered 9 inch pans. Set one pan of candy over a sauce pan containing hot water. As soon as the other pan of candy is cool enough to handle, cut it with scissors into 1-inch strips. Then snip the strips into pieces. Work fast. Drop the pieces onto a buttered baking sheet. If the candy cools too quickly, set it on a saucepan over hot water to soften it, but if it gets sticky, return at once to the work counter.
3. Toss in a small amount of powdered sugar to keep from sticking together. Repeat with the second pan of candy.

Whipped Peppermint Mocha Chia Pudding

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup of coconut yogurt or Greek style
• ¼ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1  teaspoon of instant espresso granules
• 3 tablespoons of  chia seeds
• 1 tablespoon of extra dark cacao
• 1 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• ⅛ teaspoon of Full Spectrum Zen’s All Natural Hemp Peppermint Tincture 
• A pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon of dark chocolate chips, roughly chopped

Instructions:

1. Place all pudding ingredients except for your chocolate chips into a small bowl or jug and whisk to combine.
2. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, (overnight is best). Make sure you go and give it a little stir every now and again to remove any lumps and just to make sure the chia seeds haven’t settled at the bottom of the bowl.
3. Once your pudding is nice and thick, place the mixture into your food processor or blender and process until smooth and creamy.
4. Taste and adjust sweetness if necessary.
5. Pour into smaller cups or bowls and place it back in the fridge for an hour or so to re-set and chill.
6. To serve, add a few extra roughly chopped chocolate chips

Hemp Lotion Bar

It’s not just edibles that you can craft up in your kitchen – body bars, butters, creams, and other topicals can be made right at home using our Hemp tincture.

Ingredients:

• ½  cup shea butter
• ½  cup coconut oil
• ½  cup beeswax
• ½  teaspoon Vitamin E
• 30 mg Full Spectrum Zen’s All Natural Hemp Peppermint Tincture 
• Silicon molds

Instructions:

1. In a double boiler melt the beeswax first, then coconut oil and shea butter.
2. Once melted, let cool until the oil is below 200 degrees.
3. Add Hemp, mix well and pour into molds.
4. Remove from molds once solid, around 2 hours, and enjoy.

To the kitchen!

Along with having a lot of tasty fun, your Hemp homemade edibles also provide a multitude of benefits. Ingesting your Hemp is proven to have longer lasting effects, as it is released more slowly into the system. It also allows you to have an exact serving size to attain your desired results. And it’s so easy and simple, with many no-bake options out there for even the most beginner of Hemp chefs. Let your stomach be your guide and enjoy your Hemp goodies!