Cannabis Alfajores: Argentina's Favorite Cookie, Infused

Cannabis alfajores are Argentina's favorite sandwich cookie made with weed butter: two tender cornstarch shortbread cookies stuck together with dulce de leche, a thick milk caramel. They're easy to make at home, and the recipe below swaps part of the regular butter for cannabutter. In Argentina the alfajor is a national obsession: locals are said to eat 70 of them every second.

Of the roughly six million alfajores sold in Argentina every day, most are packaged ones sold at corner stores, but you'll also find homemade and gourmet versions. Filled with dulce de leche or fruit jam, made with cornstarch cookies, dipped in chocolate or glazed with sugar, the alfajor is an everyday little treat for Argentines.

Today we're talking about cornstarch alfajores, and one version in particular: cannabis alfajores.

These are the real deal and super easy to make. You can fill them with dulce de leche, chocolate hazelnut spread or whatever jam you like.

Ingredients for cannabis alfajores

To make cannabis alfajores you'll need:

• 150 g (about 1 1/4 cups) cornstarch
• 100 g (about 3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
• 80 g (about 1/3 cup) sugar,
• 50 g (3 1/2 tbsp) butter
• 50 g (3 1/2 tbsp) cannabutter (recipe below)
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• And whatever filling you like.

Step one: the cannabutter

If you don't have cannabis butter ready to go, you can make it at home. Put four grams of dried, cured and ground cannabis flower into 200 grams (about 7 oz) of butter in a double boiler for an hour, then strain it and let it cool until the butter is soft and spreadable again.

Heads up: this method only really works if you're in a hurry and cooking small amounts.

You can also use hash instead of flower, melting 2 grams into the butter in a double boiler. Either way, when it's time to make the alfajores, the butter should be at room temperature: nice and soft, easy to work with.

How to make cannabis alfajores

To start, put the regular butter, the cannabutter (at room temperature) and the sugar in a bowl and mix until everything is well combined. Once you've got a creamy paste, add the two egg yolks and beat again. Finally, sift in the flour, cornstarch and baking powder. Bring it all together and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.

Want gluten-free alfajores? Just replace the flour with more cornstarch and you're done. Easy.

Once the dough has rested, it's time to shape your cannabis alfajores. Roll the dough out and use a glass or a cookie cutter to cut out rounds. Let them chill in the fridge while you preheat the oven to 180 °C (350 °F). Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes. Let them cool, then add whatever filling you like!

Precautions before eating cannabis edibles

As always: consume with care. Here are a few things to keep in mind before you dig into your cannabis alfajores:

Start low and go slow

Ideally, start with a low dose of 2.5 to 5 milligrams of THC (start low, go slow) and wait two hours before having any more. Your digestive system processes cannabis slowly, especially if you've just eaten a big meal.

Label your homemade edibles:

To avoid accidents or mix-ups, especially if you keep cannabis-infused food at home, label it clearly.

Don't mix with alcohol:

This is never a good idea. Some experienced cannabis users do it, but only because they already know exactly how both substances hit them.

Don't drive:

Staying put is your best bet. Not just for you, but for the safety of anyone riding with you or anyone else on the road. Ideally, eat your edibles somewhere comfortable where you can relax and don't have to go anywhere.

Stay calm:

if you overdo it on the cannabis alfajores, the high can be intense. But don't panic, it'll pass. Head somewhere safe where you can lie down; odds are you'll end up sleeping it off for 10 or 12 hours.

Be careful with the dose, the quality of your starting material and the setting. Eating them on an empty stomach, for example, is something to factor in. It's best to be rested, well fed and hydrated, and to be somewhere you feel at ease.

Keep some weed-free snacks around:

Don't let the munchies take over. If you're eating a cannabis alfajor, a weed chocolate, a brownie or any other infused treat, have something on hand that's made without cannabis. Some plain chocolate, a regular cornstarch alfajor or anything else will do.

Where does the alfajor come from?

If we're talking origins, we have to go back centuries and thousands of miles away from Argentina.

The word alfajor comes from the Hispano-Arabic "al-hasú," meaning "the filling," and refers to a dessert from Andalusian cooking. During the Middle Ages, Andalusia in southern Spain was under Muslim rule for more than 700 years, and that period left its mark on the language, the culture and the cooking.

Over time, "al-hasú" morphed into "alfajor." It made its way to Argentina in the 19th century and kept being made there, though with very different traits, since dulce de leche isn't nearly as big a deal on the other side of the Atlantic.

"Today's alfajor is a cousin of the Andalusian alfajor, which in turn was inherited from the Arabs," writes author Jorge D'Agostini in his book "Alfajor argentino, historia de un ícono".

 

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