Interview with a cannabis chef: Mike DeLao and his recipe for Peanut Budder Cookies
Mike DeLao’s love of cooking grew organically in his grandmother’s kitchen, where she made fresh tortillas every morning. This sense of community accompanied him as he grew up and went out into the world.
At 18, DeLao entered college and had a culinary epiphany while partying with his friends. He told Leafly: “I realized I only bothered to cook for my friends at 6am; I don’t really care about the party all night.”
After that late-night revelation, DeLao decided to take a chance and change his major. In 2000, he entered Orange Coast College, one of the top ten culinary schools in Costa Mesa, California.
“It was like an ordeal and learn, learn, learn,” says DeLao. Three years later, nearing graduation, he landed his first job as a chef at an upscale restaurant and later took a second job at a raw food restaurant. But about three years later, Chef DeLao has pinched a nerve in his back from working hard in the kitchen.
One day, while doctors prescribed him a plethora of prescription drugs, he saw an ad that would change his trajectory.
“Chronic back pain? Come on, get the chronic,” it said.
Mike DeLao meets edibles
DeLao had been an occasional, social cannabis user up to this point, but he wanted to get rid of the powerful drugs his doctor had prescribed for him. He inquired about cannabis, but his asthma was a problem.
The obvious solution from there? edible. He got a doctor’s referral in 2003 and found a rather quiet clinic in California to care for him. But the baked goods of 20 years ago were a far cry from what consumers can buy today.
“I just bought everything I could, all the cookies he had, every single one, and they were awful! They tasted so bad, and it wasn’t that the cannabis tasted bad; it’s that they weren’t done right. The sugar wasn’t set up properly, the butter wasn’t beaten properly. For procedural reasons only, the cookie was not made correctly. Someone must have thrown all the ingredients in the pots and mixed them up.”
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Rather than let that spoil his first experience with medicinal edibles, DeLao saw these disappointing cookies as an opportunity.
“It took about two months of begging and buying all these cookies to say I’ll make the cookies for free, just pay me in cookies and let me fix them.”
The owner, the late Steven Lawrence, agreed and became what DeLao calls his “first mentor” in the cannabis world.
“He took me in and he was so serious about sick people. It was always about his son, who suffered from muscular dystrophy. We wanted to help the sick; it wasn’t just about making cookies to make money.”
How Jack Herer changed Mike’s life
In 2008, DeLao attended the NORML conference in Berkley and met the Emperor of Cannabis himself, Jack Herer.
“He was in the dressing room next to me. I knew there was a strain named after him and I thought I should give this guy some of my cookies. So of course I go and try to give him cookies and he says, ‘I’m diabetic. I can’t eat any of your stuff. Nothing you have is medicine.’”
Herer’s words had a massive impact on DeLao. He went back to Lawrence and together they started making a sugar-free line for their collective.
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DeLao stayed in touch with Herer and his wife Jeanie, and they introduced DeLao to Rick Simpson Oil. Jeanie convinced DeLao to make RSO available to patients so he could understand in real time how it was helping people. Today, he continues to use it in recipes and shares how he’s seen RSO transform lives.
DeLao went on to have a show on Cannabis Planet where he never made a single recipe with sugar. From there he landed a spot on Netflix Cooking on High and contributed to two cookbooks, The Cannabis Kitchen Cookbook and The Official High Times Cannabis Cookbook.
Adaptation to the legal market
Today, DeLao continues his mission to listen and learn from patients. He develops recipes for the individual and their needs, whether it’s a toothless patient who requires soft food or another with specific dietary restrictions.
It’s still difficult for him not to want to give cannabis away to those who need it most and leave money out of the equation.
Meanwhile, Chef DeLao says he’s reclining to his cannabis veteran age and returning to his “pachuco days” to make himself the “most interesting man in cannabis” while he works on several new projects.
He continues to cook with cannabis oil, developing healthy recipes using whole foods, raw foods, and complementary healing ingredients for a fully holistic approach.
“I just want people to remember that there are sick people out there. It’s cool to have flashy products and big blobs, but there’s someone right now who’s in their bed and can’t even eat; If you would just give them a little help or give them a free cookie, you would change their lives. Some of them are all alone and need someone to take care of them. The whole point of this whole thing has always been to care about these people.”
Chef Mike DeLao
Peanut Budder Cookies by Chef Mike
Mike is known for being a versatile cook who can create delicious treats with or without sugar. For Leafly, he provided a delicious Peanut Budder Cookie recipe that has the sweet stuff in it. Alter this recipe and substitute as needed if you have peanut allergies, diabetes, or other serious health concerns.
Yield: 24 servings
- 1 cup unsalted cannabis-infused butter
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
Tips for making infused butter:
Melt the butter and fold in a good, clean concentrate. Mike prefers full spectrum ethanol extraction.
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Chef Says: A gram to a pound of butter will do, or you can use Leafly’s cannabutter recipe.
Once your butter is ready, let it cool to room temperature before preparing your cookie dough.
Bake cookies:
- Cream together the butter, peanut butter and sugar in a bowl. Once incorporated, beat in the eggs.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a separate bowl.
- Stir into the butter mixture.
- Chill the dough in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place on baking sheets. Flatten each ball with a fork, creating a criss-cross pattern.
- Bake in a preheated 375º F oven for about 10 minutes or until the cookies begin to brown.
- Eat one or two for pain relief!
Visit Chef Mike at his website at www.chefmike420.com.
Rae Lland
Rae Lland is a freelance writer, journalist and former editor for Weedist and The Leaf Online. With a focus on culture, music, health and wellness, in addition to her work for Leafly, she has been featured in numerous online cannabis publications as well as print editions of Cannabis Now Magazine. Follow her on Instagram @rae.lland
Check out Rae Lland’s articles
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