I’ve been seriously enjoying making my own home remedies. It’s amazing how much you can do with a few simple ingredients, and after I made my first batch of homemade cough syrup, I knew that I had to follow it up with homemade cough drops. I’m a huge believer in the power of cough drops on those nights when I can’t sleep for coughing so much. Bleh.
Probably the biggest drawback with making home remedies however, is that it can get expensive really fast.
I tend to fight that tendency by using the most common ingredients I can.
Would it be better to use coltsfoot and elderberry flowers? Theoretically, yes. But most of us don’t have those things sitting around in our pantries, nor can we pick them up at a local grocery store. And ordering specialty herbs gets expensive fast.
Here’s the herbs I’ve included, and why:
Peppermint
Aside from the fact that peppermint tea tastes awesome, it’s a common cold and flu remedy. Studies have shown that it kills bacteria and viruses. It also has a numbing effect. It also dulls the pain of an aching body. The menthol in peppermint effectively thins mucus and breaks up phlegm. It provides relief from coughs and congestion. You will find menthol as a common ingredient in decongestants. (source)
Chamomile
Chamomile contains immune boosting, and antibacterial properties. (source)
Cinnamon
Cinnamon contains anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal properties.
Ginger
Ginger has been shown to be a powerful natural pain killer, and contains anit-inflammatory properties. (source)
Did you notice anything about that list? All of those herbs have powerful healing properties, and every single one of them is available at almost any grocery store, and are inexpensive to boot. Who says high quality herbal remedies have to be expensive?
There are many different ways you can make your hard syrup into cough drops, you could even make them into lollipops with lollipop sticks and molds.
How To Not Make A Mess
One common way is to let the syrup cool until it’s just barely cool enough to handle, and then roll them into lozenges with your hands.
I found doing that to be awfully sticky though, and decided to do things the easy way and drop the hot syrup onto parchment paper.
Maybe they’re not as pretty, but I ended up with zero mess, and yes, the cough drops pop right off the parchment paper. Nothing sticks to that stuff. 🙂
Homemade cough drops
- 1 Tablespoon (or one teabag) peppermint tea leaves
- 1 Tablespoon/teabag chamomile tea
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ¾ cup boiling water
- ¾ cup honey
- Optional: Essential Oils such as peppermint, or Thieves (Great for boosting the immune system!)
- Steep peppermint, chamomile, cinnamon, and ginger in boiling water for 10 minutes or more.
- Strain off water, and pour into a small saucepan.
- Add honey.
- Heat over medium heat until mixture begins to boil.
- Clip candy thermometer to the side of your pan.
- Continue boiling until mixture reaches 300º.
- Watch carefully, it is really easy to burn when it gets this hot!
- Let mixture cool for 5-10 minutes, until it starts to get syrupy.
- At this point you can add a few drops of healing/antibacterial essential oils (this is totally optional!)
- Drop by small spoonfuls onto parchment paper and let cool.
- Dust with slippery elm bark, or at the very least, cornstarch, potato starch, or tapioca starch to absorb condensation and prevent them from sticking together in storage.
- Store in an airtight container.
Use as needed to sooth sore, itchy throats, and coughing.
Recipes everyone can make!
Nourish your body with ingredients you already have in your kitchen!
These look good! I will have to try them 🙂
This is brilliant! I’m pinning for later this week when life (hopefully) slows down just a wee bit. Thanks. 🙂
3/7/2015 I found books on homemade treats,that we normally buy at the local grocery store,or corner store[ice cream sandwich’s,for one] I thought recipe’s for store bought items were secret and owned only by the company,so I was glad to find books about food,makeing your own treats.we always had homemade treats,growing up and they handed us money to go to the corner store,regularly.
I made these following your instructions to a ‘T’. They tasted great but very chewy. Any way to get them to harden?
Hmmm not sure. Mine are like hard candy until the humidity gets to them and they start to “sweat” (which is why you need to dust them with something like slippery elm and store them in an air-tight container).
It *could* be a variance between our candy thermometers? If yours is measuring slightly hotter than mine, that would do it.
Way late in the game for this response, but it could also have something to do with a difference in the amount of water (tea at this point) after straining. Although I’ve found it difficult to get mixtures to the proper temperature without the correct sugar to liquid ratio, I’m sure it could be done with more patience than I have. Also, with batches this size, the way things like honey are measured can make a difference. Using a 1/4 cup measure three times, or a 1/2 and 1/4 can give you significantly different results than a pourable liquid measuring cup. Also, scraping the cup measures…all things to look at when figuring out what to change in the next batch.
I want to make these but my first thought was “how much water for tea?” A cup? A pot? These could make a big difference in the turn out. I would love some guidance.
Hi Jill, you’re going to steep the tea in the 3/4 cup of boiling water called for in the recipe. 🙂
Alex it could do with where you live also. How how many feet above sea level you are too
Can’t wait to try these, but I was surprised at the tea tree oil suggestion. Isn’t it harmful to ingest? We use it for about everything topical around here, but I’ve read to never eat it.
Well… from what i’ve read, it’s very powerful, so you wouldn’t want to use more than a drop or two, but it should be safe. That’s what I’ve read. Certainly don’t use it if you’re uncomfortable with it!
Just wanted to add here that you shouldn’t ingest it unless the bottle says it is safe for that. If it says topical only, I would go with what it says. Some essential oils are safe for ingestion becasue they go through extra purification tests, but not all oils are. I use DoTerra brand.
True, I should have added that. I would only ingest a reputable pure, therapeutic grade like Young Living.
I really want to try this, thank you for the recipe! 🙂 i like to make honey/chamomile tea for coughs but this would be a nice alternative to store bought drops.
Hello. Do you use fresh ginger or powdered ginger when you make these? Thanks in advance. 🙂
Fresh is best, but powdered works in a pinch.
Hello I love your recepe. I wonder whether the boiling temperature of the mixture is given in celsius or fahrenheit?
Fahrenheit.
Love this
Wouldn’t thieves lose it’s potency if put into this hot of a liquid?
I would definitely let it cool a bit before adding the thieves. After you start dropping them, the cool off happens pretty quickly, so there should be very little loss of essential oil.
I was wondering if you have ever added marshmallow root to these and if so, about how much? Thanks!
I haven’t, but it would be a great one to try!
I’m sorry, I must be missing it somewhere-how much water do you boil? Is it 8oz for each of the three tea bags?
It’s 3/4 cup for all of the herbs combined.
I tried making these but wanted to added 2 tbs Brags Apple cider vinegar in place of tea but they never harden I made sure it boiled at 300 but still like honey. i also added Lemon and Peppermint Oils when it cooled off. Tasted great but still honey texture. Thanks.
These look awesome and I can’t wait to try them! But, I was a little surprised by tea tree oil. I’ve always read that it is toxic if swallowed…?
I think that was a mistake (and is now fixed). Yes, tea tree oil is considered a topical oil.
Can you tell me about how long it takes to get to 300? I had it on a medium low heat for what seemed like a pretty long time (probably 15 minutes) and it didn’t get past 190 or so. I kept turning up the heat and it eventually got to 300 but by that point they were burnt. I’d love to try again! Thanks!
It should take between five and ten minutes depending on your water content and humidity – candy temperatures are finicky things.
So sorry they burned! Your cough drops should taste richer than raw honey – almost like they have a bit of horehound in them – but shouldn’t burn if you remove them from the heat as soon as they reach 300º.
I dusted mine with arrowroot but by the next morning they had absorbed it and were sticky. Any suggestions?
Thanks for this wonderful recipe. I made some yesterday and used them during the night, but despite dusting them with cornflour, they have stuck back together so tenaciously that I’ll have to melt them in their container in hot water and re-blob them! Think I might store them in layers on baking paper next time.
Oh bummer! Yes, it sounds like parchment paper may be the way to go. Freezing them is also another great option!
Is there anything you can use in place of the camomile. As this is an allergy in some
You could just omit it, or substitute another favorite tea.
I think I have used lavender tea in place of camomile tea at times.
I’m so excited to try your recipe! I was just wondering, about how many drops does your recipe yield? I’m going to make some as gifts for friends 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing!
I make mine pretty small, and it comes out to somewhere between 3-4 dozen.
I am making these asap.. Thanks
Hello,
I love your home remedies. But I’m having a problem making the cough drops. 35 minutes later and neither of my thermometers is over 250 degrees. What am I doing wrong? I admit I’ve never made candy before and I did research via the Internet before attempting this recipe. Any suggestions?
You may try using less water/more honey. Still, after 35 minutes the water should have evaporated to the point that the cough drops should have gotten hot, so I’m not sure I can really diagnose…
What can I use in place of chamomile since I’m allergic to it.
Anything you think might be soothing, or you can just omit it. 🙂
I’ve made these several times and love them, but even after coating in cornstarch or arrowroot powder they still tend to stick to each other. Any ideas to help? Do I have to wrap each individually? THanks
Hmm, you may have to. Or maybe try refrigerating or even freezing them.
Hi!!
Thanks for the recipe!!
I made them today as my son got a cold! I was unsure about him liking them , he is 16 and very fuzzy, but he loved them!!!
I have posted a picture in my Instagram! Thanks a lot
What would the reductions be?
Love this
When you say 1/2t cinnamon and 1/2t ginger, are those powder spices your talking about or should i buy whole cinnamon sticks and ginger and grate them? i Usially have ginger around that i can grate but i don’t have cinnamon sticks.
I use powered cinnamon, but try to at least grate my own ginger. 🙂
Hi, I make a lot of homemade products such as soap and lotion, granola bars, etc. Anything I like to eat/use that is generally expensive but requires little effort to make at home. I wanted to try this recipe because it fits that genre. The first time I made it, way too soft, and stuck together. The second time I burned it to a crisp and had to soak the pan in water overnight to clean (worked like a charm). Tonight I made the cough drops with two things in mind. Hard crack candy needs a temp of 309 F, so I did that plus dropped a drop into cool water to be sure that it had set properly before pouring into my mold. Second I looked up the flash point of peppermint essential oil which is 135F, so I waited for it to cool as much as possible before adding, 170F. Cinnamon flash point is around 200, so that or thieves oil would be a better choice.
How long would these be “good” for?
About at what temp are you adding essential oils. They have a fairly low flashpoint especially if you are heating all this to 300 degrees. It would be a waste to add them if they are going to scorch.
What I can use instead of perchment paper..
Waxed paper may work, a silicon baking mat, or a marble slab perhaps. Anything that will let them cool without sticking. 🙂
I gave this a good try. They are too soft.
Plagued with upper resp in late fall through march.olive leaf is one of my prime defenses along with products from company Herbs Etc.in New Mexico.took biactin for to many yrs still recovering.
Are these safe to use if you are on blood pressure tablets?
I have no idea, I imagine you’ll want to compare the ingredients to your list of approved/forbidden foods.
I couldn’t get past 225 but I think it is because my element on my stove turns on & off. Could also be the pot I used (I rock) next time I will use stainless steel and see it that works better. Turning up the heat didn’t help so we will see how it goes, just cooling now!
I am adding lollipop sticks for the kids if it gets hard enough.
So I changed pots, continued to boil and it made a difference.
Took longer than 10 mins but again I think that is caused by my burner turning on and off. Cook top look nice but not effective for this!
I took it off at 275 because it started to smell like it was burning but it is thickening up so hopefully it doesn’t taste burnt!
I like to make almond roca at christmas time for a special treat. I’ve made it for years with no issues. Then, 2 years in a row it didn’t turn out no matter what I did (lots of wasted, expensive ingredients). It never firmed up.
Finally, I tested my candy thermometer. It was way off. No problems when I used a new thermometer.
You might want to check that your candy thermometer is reading correctly
Yum 🙂 I made a couple of additions – 1/2t turmeric (anti-inflammatory) and 1/2t kava kava powder for its anesthetic (pain numbing) benefits for sore throats, to the tea mixture. They taste like ricola drops! I think next time I’ll cook them to a slightly higher temperature; mine soften slightly in the warmth of the mouth and I would prefer they stay hard. Otherwise, lovely!
The cough syrup is also yummy – I was really surprised it doesn’t taste oniony!
Hello how long does it take for these to harden? Do you need to leave them all night?
Thank you!
It shouldn’t take long. They harden as they cool.
I tried this. Now I didnt have parchment paper to work on but the mix was too runny. Even with the starch, it spread out too much to the point that it was all over the cookie sheet and couldnt solidify into losenges. Did I miss something?
Mine did not turn out to be hard. let it get to 300 degrees. Maybe thermometer is off. Or is it a soft crack cough drop? I did use raw honey as I have my own bee’s.
I don’t think raw honey should make a difference. If you reached 300º you should definitely have hard drops.
How do you bring 3/4 cup of water to 300°?
You add the honey to it.
Hi,
Can I incorporate eldeberry juice into this recipe?