As for the brownies, if you just stick ground up buds in the batter then it doesn't stink up the house that much at all. In my experience, however, using ground up buds in recepies takes a lot longer to kick in then using cannabutter. My theory is if it is steeped in a some sort of fat it gets absorbed by your body more quickly than if you use ground up plant material. My personal experience is it takes about 2-3 hours when ground up and only about 45 min - 1 hour when extracted in butter. I've been told that it's because fat and plant material are processed in different parts of your digestive tract. I can say that I, myself, have noticed that eating it affects everyone a little differently. The end result is usually the same but the dosage and journey vary from person to person.

As for the butter, man, you gotta steep the buds in a barely-simmering water-budder concoction for a good 24,48, if not 72 hour period to get all the goods out and YES it stinks up your house like a mother effer! I use a crock pot set to uber low, about 2 oz weed 1/2 buds 1/2 leaf, 5 sticks of butter and just enough water to make the butter barely cover the plant material, then keep adding water to keep the level the same. Again, stinks up your house like a son of a.... well, like boiling pipes does, only smells like wet weed, not resin

The recepie for firecrakers on here is very good though, and spot on. Just made some following it yesterday and they turned out better than my recipe for them and I've been cooking w/ ganja for about 12 years now (I think the natural PB is the difference). Their quick, easy to make, and don't stink up your house hardly any. Burn a Nag Champa at the same time and I bet you won't even smell the weedie treats.

Peace

-Kablizzo