Edibles Cookbooks: The Best Cannabis Books about Edibles

In a world where everything is digital and whatever you need can be found online, there is something to be said for turning off electronics, limiting screen time and getting back to the basics. We know cannabis aficionados love papers for rolling — but what about for reading? There are so many great books about cannabis out there, from historical guides to how-to books to gorgeous picture books to grace your coffee table. There are hardcovers and paperbacks about how to use it, how to grow it and how to cook with it. This series will take a look at all that’s available and what we think about each one. Books on marijuana cover a range of genres, so we’re taking a look at a bunch of different kinds of books. But as we do, we’re following one common thread: the best cannabis books about edibles and cannabis edible cookbooks.

Best Cannabis Books about Edibles

With recreational marijuana legalization sweeping the country, not only is cannabis easier to obtain than ever, there are more ways to partake than ever. Though the most prevalent way of consuming cannabis is still smoking, ingesting cannabis is quickly gaining popularity too.

When you smoke flower, toke a joint or vape, the THC enters your lungs. It then passes into your bloodstream and quickly makes its way to your brain. However, when you eat or drink cannabis, it goes into your stomach, then to your liver before making its way into the bloodstream and ultimately, your brain. The liver converts the THC into a stronger form and, while it will take longer to feel the initial effects and to achieve its peak, the high achieved and its intensity lasts significantly longer. That, along with the fact that ingestion poses no risk to the lungs, is a reason why edibles are often a favored method of consumption.

While edibles can be bought at most dispensaries in the form of everything from gummies to cookies to chocolates, there is something to be said for making your own. Not only can you create food that’s fresh and significantly more gourmet than anything you can buy; cooking can be a pleasant, soothing activity. It’s an art and a science — and if you share your creation, you get all the bragging rights. There are many publications full of cannabis edibles recipes to enjoy, and these nine cannabis edibles cookbooks are at the top of our reading list.

The Alice B Toklas Cook Book

Historically, this is the one that started it all. Published in 1954, this is one of the best-selling cookbooks of all time. As much an autobiography as it is a recipe book, there are surely cookbooks with recipes far more evolved than this one from more than six decades ago. However, this book contains all the details for her Hashish Fudge, which became a true sensation back in the day and changed the cannabis landscape forever.

Embraced by hippies the world over, Alice really knew how to stir the pot politically. While this book contains primarily regular, non-cannabis recipes, as matriarch of the edibles movement, she of course deserves our number one spot for best edibles cookbook.

The Official High Times Cannabis Cookbook

High Times magazine is one of the most trusted names out there, so when it comes to getting stoned, who else would you turn to? This definitive guide to cannabis-infused cooking contains more than 50 irresistible cannabis edibles recipes, including some inspired by 420 celebrities like Willie Nelson, Cheech and Chong and Snoop Dogg. With pictures that will make you drool in anticipation, this has everything from dinner possibilities to cures for your midnight munchies.

Edibles for Beginners

If the thought of making your own edibles feels a little overambitious and a touch overwhelming, this is the perfect cannabis book to start with. With more than just cannabis edibles recipes inside, this edibles cookbook also covers the very basics of cannabis, including details on its health benefits and the lowdown on differences between 20 popular strains and their flavor profiles. It also offers low-dose recipes for appetizers, brownies, cakes and more, each labeled with its THC content so you’re never caught unaware.

The Art of Weed Butter

The cannabis edibles recipes in this book are kind of secondary to the fact that this is absolutely the most detailed and definitive book on how to create the basis for all edibles, weed butter. This puts it in the running for the best edibles cookbook available.

Cannabutter is the optimal way to transfer THC into an edible, and this book will make you a master of infusing weed into not only butter but oil, coconut oil or really any fat of your choosing. This step-by-step guide will make it so you not only can achieve incredible potency in your cannabis creations to get as high as you possibly can, but also access all the non-psychoactive benefits available like battling pain, reducing stress, helping with PTSD and overcoming night terrors.

Bong Appétit

This is hands down the winner for the best title of all the cannabis edibles cookbooks. Created by the editors of Munchies, a James Beard award-nominated series that then morphed into a no-longer-existing food channel launched by Vice media, this weed anthology contains more than 65 “high”-end recipes for dishes both sweet and savory. Enlisting the aid of incredible world-renowned chefs, it contains recipes for fare so delicious that you’d want to eat them even if they didn’t get you high. They also cover the science of infusing your bud into not only butter and oil, but milks, alcohols and so much more. With tips and tricks paired with tidbits on dosage, strain pairings and a little bit of weed politics, this is the bible for budding chefs looking to elevate their cannabis menu to the next level.

Cannabis Drinks

Creating a libation that will get you high entails more than just throwing a joint into your blender — and as one of the best edibles cookbook out there, Cannabis Drinks provides all the secrets to crafting cannabis drinkables for those who want to experience THC’s effects as well as those only after CBD’s benefits. Author Jamie Evans, named one of the Wine Enthusiast’s 40 under 40, helps you to master not only infusions but also mixology while inviting you to create cocktails, mocktails, smoothies, teas and more that will blow your mind, all in the comfort of your very own home. Trust us, sipping your own handcrafted beverage is so much more delightful than just popping the top on some can with a green leaf on it.

Cooking With Herb

For many, ganja and Bob Marley are nearly synonymous. In this collection, Bob’s daughter, Cedella Marley, shares the belief that her father instilled into all his brood: marijuana can serve as the foundation for a green, clean and healthy lifestyle.

Wellness guru Cedella not only provides 75 canna-boosted family recipes brimming with Caribbean flavors, but also shares personal stories about growing up a Marley, along with beautiful photography and practical information on how to enjoy cannabis and experience it safely and pleasurably, in a manner that is enlightened and responsible.

The Vegan Stoner Cook Book

Don’t worry, vegans — we didn’t forget about you. Evolving out of the popular blog The Vegan Stoner, created by vegan artists Sarah Conrique and Graham I. Haynes, this book contains a collection of delectable vegan cannabis edibles recipes so simple that even a stoner can prepare them. With foolproof recipes for yummy meals that involve just a few ingredients and minimal time, this book proves that cooking vegan doesn’t have to be hard. This adorable, highly illustrated cookbook contains a whopping 100 recipes to choose from and can be followed up with The Vegan Stoner Cookbook 2 for 100 more.

The 420 Gourmet

Go-to guru among LA celebrities, Jeff the 420 Chef made a name for himself by inventing a process to neutralize that distinctly herbaceous taste and smell traditionally found with cannabis edibles. The result was truly decadent and potent dishes without any noticeable weed flavor. In this book, one of the best books on cannabis you will ever find, Jeff shares all his secrets and his step-by-step process for creating his signature “light-tasting” canna-delights that include gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, and kosher options. From brunch to salads to small plates to gourmet dinners, these elevated cannabis edibles recipes are fully adaptable to your goals. Jeff uses his fun-loving approach to both educate and entertain while providing the ultimate guide to cannabliss.

Cannabis lovers unite at CannaCon

If you enjoy edibles, check out these books about cannabis edibles to get you started on making your own. But whatever your preferred method of consumption, you can find fellow cannabis enthusiasts at your local CannaCon. With CannaCon events happening all over the country, you can create and strengthen lifelong partnerships in the emerging cannabis industry by attending the nation’s leading B2B show for entrepreneurs. With dozens of speakers, hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of attendees, get your tickets now so you can live the kind of life you’d want to read about.