How to Make Edible Vegan Gummies
Do you love cannabis gummies? Well, you're in luck. Below you'll find a simple recipe for making infused gummies at home using all-natural ingredients such as agar-agar and fruit juice. Oh, and did we mention these gummies are vegan, too?
What are cannabis gummies?
Gummies are arguably one of the most popular types of cannabis edibles. They come in all shapes, sizes, and flavours, and carry a specific dose of cannabinoids, terpenes, and other compounds in the form of a delicious sweet treat.
Benefits of gummies
Besides being absolutely delicious, cannabis gummies hold many benefits over smoked/vaped cannabis as well as other, more elaborate edibles, such as baked goods.
The benefits of cannabis gummies include:
• Easy dosing: Edible gummies can be made to feature consistent doses of any concentration.
• Discretion: Rather than having to dig into a brownie or spark up a joint, dosing with gummies is as simple as popping a single gummy into your mouth and keeping on with your day.
• Fast action: Cannabis gummies can be held and dissolved in the mouth, and thereby produce effects a lot faster than other edibles that need to be chewed and fully digested.
• You can eat them anytime: While you need to be in the mood to eat a dense brownie, gummies are small enough to be enjoyed anytime and anywhere.
• They preserve well: Gummies generally keep well and don't go stale or off like baked goods or other types of edibles.
• They're easy to store: Gummies generally don't melt or get squashed like other edibles. Keep them in a plastic wrapper or a small sealed container, and store them in a cool, dark place.
How to make vegan gummies
Gummies are readily accessible in legal cannabis markets, but you can also make them at home really easily, especially if you have a POT by Noids Herb Cooker. Below, we outline how to make cannabis gummies at home both with and without a POT Herb Cooker.
Ingredients
• ½ cup fruit juice
• ½ cup infused coconut oil (see steps 1–3 to learn how to make it)
• 2 tsp. of agar-agar powder (do not use agar-agar flakes)
• 1–2 tbsp. sweetener (optional)
• Food colouring (optional)
Equipment
• POT by Noids Herb Cooker (optional)
• Gummy bear mould (you can buy these online)
• Pipette or dropper
• Saucepan
• Wooden spoon
• Cheesecloth
• Bowl
Instructions
Infusing your coconut oil
1. For this recipe, we opt to use coconut oil, as it offers a mild taste and good storability. To start making your own cannabis-infused coconut oil using the POT Herb Cooker, simply place your ground herb in the POT's glass jar and use the Decarb function to decarboxylate (activate) the compounds within it.
1a. If you don't have a POT Herb Cooker, you'll want to grind your bud coarsely, spread it out on a lined baking sheet, and bake it at 110°C for 30–40 minutes. Make sure to stir the buds, and pay close attention not to overcook or burn them (as this will destroy the cannabinoids and terpenes).
2. Once your herb has finished decarbing, add in your coconut oil and use the Oil Infusion function on your POT Herb Cooker to infuse the cannabis compounds into your oil.
2a. If you don't have a POT Herb Cooker, you'll want to add your oil and decarbed flower into a saucepan and cook on low heat for 2–3 hours. Make sure to keep a close eye on the temperature of your oil to avoid overheating it and destroying its active compounds.
3. Once you've finished infusing your oil, let it cool, then use the inbuilt plunger on your POT Herb Cooker to strain your oil and press out any oil left in the herb. Don't forget to use the pipette to catch any leftover oil at the bottom of the POT's glass jar. Using the POT's nozzle, you should be able to strain your finished oil directly into its final container.
3a. If you don't have a POT Herb Cooker, you'll want to strain your oil through cheesecloth into a bowl or other recipient before funnelling it into its final container. Remember to only handle your oil once it has cooled completely.
How to make your gummies
4. Combine the fruit juice, agar-agar, sweetener, and colouring in a saucepan; stir to combine.
5. Transfer the saucepan to the stove and bring the mixture to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat and let the mixture simmer.
6. Add in the coconut oil, simmer for 5 minutes while stirring, then remove the mixture from the heat.
7. Let the mixture cool before using a pipette to pour it into a gummy bear mould.
8. Let the gummies set in the fridge for 20 minutes.
9. Enjoy!
Note: this recipe first appeared on our Instagram and makes roughly 80 small gummy bears. Follow us on Insta for more recipes like this!
Agar-agar vs gelatine
We prefer to use agar-agar over gelatine when making homemade gummies because it is a natural, plant-derived substance that's much more nutrient-dense than gelatine (which contains no nutrients other than animal protein). Agar-agar, on the other hand, is rich in calcium, potassium, magnesium, and iron. Best of all, agar-agar is derived from the cell walls of seaweed and is 100% vegan.
Top tips for making vegan cannabis gummies at home
Monitor the potency of your oil: Use the potency calculator on our homepage to learn how much dry flower to use to infuse your cannabis oil.
Watch your dose: Most US states consider 5mg of THC or CBD to equate to 1 edible dose. However, feel free to use a smaller dose for your gummies (such as 2.5mg per gummy). Not only will this give you more control over the intensity of their effects, but it also means you can enjoy more than just a single gummy at a time!
Tweak your flavours: This recipe uses fruit juice as the main flavouring for your cannabis gummy bears. Feel free to experiment and use different juices to produce different flavours of gummies. Some of our favourite fruit juices to use include apple, orange, blueberry, pineapple, mango, and cranberry, but you can use virtually any juice (or combination of juices) to spice up this recipe.
Adjust the firmness of your gummies using more agar-agar: If you like slightly firmer, chewier gummies, add 1 extra teaspoon of agar-agar to the above recipe.
Store your gummies properly: For maximum freshness, store your gummies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
So, there you have it; a simple and 100% vegan recipe for homemade cannabis gummies. But before you roll up your sleeves and spring into action in the kitchen, do yourself a favour and check out our POT Herb Cooker. Designed especially for cannabis cooks, the POT makes it impossible to overcook or burn your cannabis when decarbing or infusing it into fat or alcohol. Check it out here.
