Lately I’ve been dabbling in pot goodies and have gotten advice from the potheads in my life. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer last September (in the early and treatable stages), I decided to venture to my local marijuana dispensary. Although I’m not usually a pot smoker, I was open to the idea of eating sweets and baked goods that have medicinal marijuana, to help potentially aid with any sleeplessness, pain and anxiety from cancer.
First, I bought an Auntie Dolores chocolate cookie, and completely forgot to eat a small portion of the cookie in the privacy of my own living room. It’s a cookie—-my natural instinct is to eat the whole thing, which I did. Slowly, because the pot taste seemed to coat my tongue and linger after any swallowing. Within fifteen minutes, I was buzzy and a little dizzy. It was tough to walk to the bathroom without putting my hands on the walls and I was giggle-cringing the whole route. Rather than have the desired mellow and easy night, I tossed and turned with vivid and bizarre dreams. The next day I was still a little dizzy and felt hung over. We almost cancelled whale watching plans but I guzzled water to get the sweet pot taste out of my mouth. It took a few hours out of the morning for me to feel better. I had a similar reaction when I ate only half of a cookie.
I did hear that a natural chef friend of mine, J.C., was making pot cookies so I happily took him up on his offer to sample some. He promised that his line of Baked cookies (get it?)—which come in gourmet flavors like cashew butter cardamom, blackstrap molasses, and lemon Matcha, would offer the mellower marijuana experience I was after. I have cooked and catered with him often enough to know he has a good palate and intuitive sense of how to make things healthy while remaining delicious. J.C., a private chef, is still in the early stages of developing his Baked cookies and was able to share his process of baking with medicinal marijuana. I enjoyed that I was able to eat half a cookie, enjoy a gourmet treat, and not feel drained or hungover. His comments have been edited for clarity and length.
Bay Area Bites: How and why did you start baking pot cookies?
J.C.: It kind of started as a joke. My partner is a card-carrying cannabis client and wanted to do a cooking project with me that incorporated medical marijuana. I’m a natural chef into the therapeutics of food so I started reading and learning about the medicinal properties of cannabis. There can be a fun element to something that may not be so fun—getting positive relief from the symptoms of being sick.
Right now I’m making the cookies for my partner and testing recipes with some card-carrying friends. I want it to be 100% legit. I want to sell to dispensaries, that’s my goal.