Recipe: Botanical Bandit Shortbread Bars
Brown butter vanilla bean shortbread cookies, glazed with creamy vanilla icing
This recipe is featured in the December 2022 issue of High Times Magazine!
These soft, crumbly shortbread bars have become my favorite cookies to make as they taste just as delicious as they are beautiful. I’ve made variations with earl grey + lavender, lemon + rosemary, and black sesame + coconut.
Earlier this year, I went out and got into good trouble to spread positive street art with my friend and lunch lady turned street artist, The Velvet Bandit. As I stood in my kitchen decorating a tray of shortbread cookies with edible flowers and cannabis leaves it felt a lot like wheatpasting, a style of street art that uses an eco-friendly sticky paste made of wheat flour and water to adhere artwork onto surfaces. I named these cookies The Botanical Bandits, in honor of my brave and inspiring friend.
“We pass around joints like we’re 16 years old again, joyriding through town, up to no good. We’re in search of smooth, flat surfaces to wheat paste art in public spaces using non-toxic, biodegradable materials. I learn there’s a code of decency for where to post, not post, and how not to start a turf war (true story!)” — EMBER
Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Shortbread Bars Recipe
DOSING:
Makes approximately 20 bars dosed at ~10mg each. Pair with strains such as Wedding Cake and Biscotti with doughy, creamy aromas that complement the nutty brown butter and vanilla bean.
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups cannabutter (200mg THC total), softened*
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon choice of milk (whole, oat, hemp, almond)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Vanilla Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1/4 cup choice of milk
Small cannabis fan leaves and edible flowers for decoration, rinsed and pat dry (Optional)
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a medium saucepan, melt the cannabutter over medium high heat until the butter starts bubbling and turns golden brown. Butter browns at 250 degrees F, a low enough temp to prevent cannabinoid and terpene burnoff. Remove from heat to cool. When it reaches room temp, refrigerate to chill until the butter has solidified from liquid to softened state. Stir occasionally.
2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a 13x9x2-inch baking pan with parchment paper. In a small bowl, stir together flour, cornstarch. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat together softened cannabutter, powdered sugar until creamed and fluffy. Beat in 1 tablespoon milk, vanilla bean paste, and salt on medium speed until combined.
4. Slowly stir in the flour and cornstarch mixture a little at a time until combined. Continue beating until a crumbly dough comes together. It should feel like crumbly soft sand that holds together. Press together and make sure any crumbly flour bits are mixed thoroughly into the dough.
5. Press the dough evenly into the prepared baking pan. Place into the oven and bake on the center rack for 40 minutes. Turn the pan halfway through baking to bake evenly. Remove pan from oven and place onto a rack to cool.
6. Make the Vanilla Glaze: In a small bowl, mix 1 cup of powdered sugar with milk and vanilla bean paste until you get a smooth, thin, runny glaze that just coats the back of a spoon with a thin film. If it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar a little at a time until you reach desired consistency. Set aside.
7. Glaze + Decorate: Place the small cannabis leaves and edible flowers (optional) each scattered across the top of the cookie. Pour glaze evenly on top of the entire cookie pan and over the cannabis leaves and flowers. Using a small spatula or pastry brush, gently spread to evenly distribute the glaze and coat the decoration. The leaves should look like they’re covered with a sheet of ice.
8. Let the cookie and icing cool completely in the pan until the glaze hardens, 3 or more hours. Using the sides of the parchment paper, lift the uncut cookie out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut into 20 rectangles that are approximately 3-inches x 1.5-inches. Store covered in a cool, dry place.
Look mom, I’m in High Times!
XOXO, Christina W.
This recipe is everything!