Mystery Baking Company (MBC) was on the cover of Edibles Magazine once before, in May of 2017 back when our offices were at the Z420 TV studios space in Filipino Town outside of Echo Park in Los Angeles. It was a very fun photo shoot and we had a full kitchen in the office back then so we made infused crepes to go with their cannabis hazelnut spread. Now they’re infusing all of their fine products with top quality cannabidiol isolate and making them available everywhere. Historically speaking, Mystery’s products can only be found in California. Now that there’s a version with 0% THC, they can ship them to every state in the Union and even to a number of different countries. As we wait for compliance to finalize and for all remaining licensing issues to get settled in Southern California, many companies are struggling to even keep their lights on. Mystery has taken their culinary expertise, recipes and workforce and have managed to thrive and survive by making top shelf cannabidiol infused edibles. In addition to the spreads that made them famous, like chocolate hazelnut and peanut butter, they’re also making baked goods like cookies and brownies in a variety of mouth watering flavors. The Brownies include cream cheese, cookies and cream, rainbow candy, classic and almond. The line of cookies feature flavors like double chocolate chip, white chocolate and snickerdoodle. There’s also infused marshmallow cereal bars made from both chocolate and fruity cereal. The CBD isolate MBC uses is derived from organic hemp from a farm in Colorado and is completely tasteless and odorless so everything tastes exactly like you hope treats of this variety would be. This month’s cover features toast with CBD infused spreads and fresh fruit, nuts and infused honey. There’s also some reviews of their THC infused gummy rings by Siouxsie Q and Grace Marie in this very issue, including a recipe for a CBD infused Shirley Temple with a gummy ring garnish.
Mystery Baking Company also won a number of awards in last year’s Best of Edibles List Awards, “Best Honey” and “Best Brownie” among them. Best Brownie and Best Honey are two of the most highly coveted awards that are given, being that they’re both two of the most popular and classic of edibles. Often times when you use the word “edible”, people will often ask, “like a weed brownie?” It’s the most traditional of all the cannabis infused foods and honey is one of the things that makes infusing at home the simplest and sweetest for many people. Mystery also makes 10mg honey infused honey sticks along with their 100mg infused honey jars. Honey has a number of medicinal benefits and is great for sore throats and coughing, it’s an all natural anti-inflammatory and can calm swelling, coat your throat to keep out bacteria, heal minor burns, is full of antioxidants, contains nutrients, aids in lowering blood pressure, helps improve cholesterol and can lower triglycerides. Honey with CBD in it does even more and is ideal for a number of recipes. Any recipes we’ve ever printed that call for THC infused honey can also be made using CBD honey instead if you’d prefer. It’s also great on toast or muffins, in coffee or tea, or used as a natural sweetener instead of refined sugar.
The beautifully made open face fancy sandwiches you see on the cover are made using the MBC honey with CBD, as well as their hazelnut spread and peanut butter. Peanut Butter itself has various health benefits too. PB good for your heart, is an awesome energy booster, is rich in fibre, contains potassium, can lower chances of developing diabetes, is fantastic for bone health, and helps with weight loss. Cannabidiol has been found to have numerous medicinal benefits that include being very helpful for the relief of certain kinds of pain, depression and mood disorders, anxiety and stress, has an anti-inflammatory effect, protects and heals the skin, protects and heals the skin, protects against bone disease and broken bones, helps maintain brain health and create resilience to trauma and degeneration, reduced risk of cancer, promotes better cholesterol profiles and lowered risk of cardiovascular disease, reduced risk of diabetes and obesity, and reduces the risk of diabetes and obesity.
CBD has been in the news a lot lately, not only for the benefits but also as the subject of investigative pieces about fraud. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a phytocannabinoid discovered in 1940. It is one of some 113 identified cannabinoids in cannabis plants, accounting for up to 40% of the plant’s extract. It’s is a non-psychoactive compound found in the cannabis plant that promises to relax the body without altering the mind. Since 2018, official preliminary clinical research on cannabidiol included studies of anxiety, cognition, movement disorders, and pain. CBD derived from hemp has been descheduled and therefore legalized, but at this time it is not regulated by state or federal agencies. Unfortunately that means that there’s some counterfeit that either not only contains 0% CBD, but also might be tainted with pesticides or heavy metals. Be sure you always know where your product is coming from and who’s manufacturing it. When you’re buying edibles you want to be able to know where and how the ingredients are sourced and where the CBD and/or THC comes from.
As of right now, the country is still waiting to see exactly what the laws and regulations concerning CBD are going to go into effect. Angelica LaVito at CNBC reported that, “Congress’ legalization of hemp products, including most CBD, in December is forcing the FDA to consider writing new rules — and casting a cloud of uncertainty over the emerging industry… Although using CBD in food was clearly prohibited under FDA rules, the industry expected the agency to change its stance once President Donald Trump signed the farm bill into law in December, legalizing CBD derived from hemp. While FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the agency would establish new rules to legalize CBD products for consumer use, he also condemned some products that tout unproven health benefits and vowed to use existing rules to ban their sale.”
There’s truly no telling when they may have everything in order and fully regulated. Meanwhile CBD is pretty much available almost everywhere if you know where to look but some states like Utah have much more specific restrictions, especially when it comes to edibles. Full flower CBD that you get at medical or recreational dispensaries has enough THC in it to affect some people but it’s unusual to experience full psychoactive effects like you would with regular cannabis flower. CBD and THC both work best when they’re working together producing the entourage effect and doing as much as possible for your endocannabinoid system.
Mystery Baking was the first company we ever knew of to do a Hazelnut
Chocolate Spread. Nutella only really seemed to get popular in the last few years, once it was prominently featured on The Great Food Truck Race on The Food Network once crepes began to grow in the American mainstream. The hazelnut chocolate spread is made by taking cocoa powder and mixing it with hazelnuts, sugar, vanillin and skim milk until it becomes a paste-like spread.Then it’s ready to be infused. They have the necessary ingredients to do peanut butter and jelly, and peanut butter and honey sandwiches infused with CBD so even if you’re not interested in cooking or baking you can still easily use their products for making snacks and meals. Add fruit, nuts and seeds like the pictures you see here to take it to the next level. Mystery Baking Company is a family run company and the staff grew up together right here in Los Angeles. When you see them at events they’re making sandwiches and doing everything they can to make sure everyone has the best possible time. If you see them at a convention or expo, be sure you say “hi: to Scooby and the gang.” We’d love to see pictures of anything you concoct at home using the Mystery Baking Company products, so if you make something, post a picture to instagram and be sure you tag follow @Mystery.Baking and @EdiblesMagazine when you do. Like we said back when we wrote about them the first time, “The Mystery Baking Company is Delicious, Case Closed!”
Patrick Ian Moore