In the changing landscape of legalization, lots of folks are complaining about mainstream culture appropriating weed like it’s a shiny new cookie (a cookie we now call cannabis). As a cannabis writer and Humboldt County resident, I hear these comments and discussions often. There’s a fear on the hill that a longstanding underground culture is about to be gentrified by hipsters and investors. I feel this. I don’t like hearing about corporate America dipping their toe in the cannabis pool, nor the threat of urban tech companies becoming the true profiteers of the industry. Cultivating cannabis has always required street smarts, a willingness to get dirty and an immeasurable degree of risk. Longtime industry folks feel understandably irked that slick new companies are entering the market now that everything is safe and cozy (legally speaking). Furthermore, acknowledgement for the gross injustices and embedded racism of our nation’s War on Drugs is critical. For many, legal weed is hard to celebrate after being incarcerated for cultivation or possession. Lives have been ruined and families have been broken.
Yet, the widespread social acceptance of an herbal medicine that heals, not harms, cannot be overstated. Last week, I was shocked to see a “CBD for Seniors” workshop being advertised in an extremely conservative, suburban housing development near my hometown in the Sierra Foothills. While Starbucks isn’t serving cannabis-infused lattes (yet), perhaps gentrification isn’t looming, but has already arrived. How cool for those seniors! I happily imagined all the Deb’s, Barb’s and Greg’s in their tract homes using CBD medicine to alleviate the many pains of an aging American body.
Vetting the joint processes of stigmatization, access, gentrification, displacement and legalization are complex But for today, I’m gonna call a weed cookie, a weed cookie. I made these sugar cookies gluten-free, as eating gluten clogs my sinuses, sits in my belly like a stone and makes life feel impossibly hard. I’m pretty sure that feeling better is the entire point of cannabis-infused cuisine. Enjoy these cookies with an afternoon cup of coffee and contemplate the changes ahead.
Ingredients
I cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons canna-butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ¾ cup gluten-free flour
½ cup almond flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon xanthan gum
Instructions
Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and stir until combined, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl.
Assemble dry ingredients in a mixing bowl; stir with a whisk until evenly mixed. Slowly, add the dry ingredients to the wet just until the dough comes together. Pat dough into a round disk and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Chill for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and dust a large cutting board or butcher block with gluten-free flour. Using a rolling pin, roll out dough to ¼ inch thick. Use your cookie cutter of choice (I found my weed leaf cookie cutter on Amazon) and cut out shapes. Re-roll excess dough and repeat 2-3 times. Place cutouts onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake cookies for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, take a picture, share and tag the Emerald Magazine on Instagram!
Written by Nora Mounce
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