Minnesota's first 'cannabakery' will offer cannabis pastries

There are no "pot brownies" on the menu at Chez Annalise. Not yet, anyway.

A new bakery coming to 60th and Lyndale in early May bills itself as Minnesota's first "cannabakery," thanks to one key baking ingredient derived from the hemp plant, cannabidiol.

Scones and cookies from baker Annalise Bruening will not contain the recently legalized psychoactive chemical in the cannabis plant, THC. Instead, Bruening is infusing butter with a flavorless CBD oil, which is supposed to impart a calming effect when ingested.

"These aren't going to be traditional edibles that people think of," said Brandon Beck, the owner of Chez Annalise. "They're not really very potent, more of a kind of relaxing, euphoric effect. We're not out there trying to get people really inebriated or stoned."

Chez Annalise began last year as a cottage bakery and now operates as a "ghost kitchen" that delivers Bruening's baked goods, which can be purchased with or without CBD. The delivery service, currently operating on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, will phase out when the retail location opens, at 6001 Lyndale Av. S. (chezannalise.com).

The bakery is a longtime dream for Beck, who grows hemp on a fifth-generation family plot in Sauk Centre, Minn. Before getting into farming in 2019, Beck traveled the world, including a stint in Amsterdam.

"I remember going into coffee shops there and finding this really relaxed environment where people would go in to buy cannabis, and I thought, this is the only place in the world that this really exists," he said.

As a grower, he was facing increased competition year over year to get his product, CBD oil, to stand out in the market.

As the laws in Minnesota began to change, "I started to play with the idea, and I thought, well, why not put it into pastries?"

He met with a few bakers and tested recipes, but couldn't find a formula that didn't taste strongly of cannabis.

Bruening was working in a flower shop, and Beck came in to buy some stems. They started talking about his business, and Bruening shared that it was her dream to be a baker. After that, she tested a batch of scones and the cannabis flavor was "imperceptible," Beck said.

"I just knew immediately that it was a good route to go," he said. "There's something about being the first person to open a cannabakery and really push the industry forward."

THC might be something Beck and Bruening incorporate into pastries later, when the laws surrounding hemp-derived THC in food crystallize.

"It's such a changing industry, and everything is just so dynamic and fluid within the lawmaking process, that I think it's a lot safer and easier — and more people in the public are comfortable — with CBD, rather than going straight into Delta-9," Beck said.

Edible THC products are limited to 5 mg in Minnesota; beverages can contain up to 10 mg. "But there are no real limits on CBD," Beck said.

But there are other limits to what Bruening can make with CBD. The cannabinoids will evaporate at very high temperatures, so breads, for example, are out of the question.

Beck is still waiting on permits, and he expects the business to first open for carryout only. His hope is for it to become a full-service cafe in the future.

"We're just really excited to share this with people," Bruening said.

Beck added, "I hope it brings a lot of joy."