Horehound Drops~ My Favorite Home Remedy For a Sore Throat

Horehound is one of my favorite herbs. I have a little patch reserved for this wonderful herb in my kitchen herb garden. Every fall I make a batch of Horehound Drops for those mid-winter sore scratchy throats, and coughs. They do seem to help, and they’re delicious.

This recipe is very much like hard tack candy in how you make it, and in the finished product.

Horehound Drops

Ingredients

• 2 cups of fresh horehound (include the leaves stems and flowers), or 1 cup dried horehound
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 3 c brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of butter
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar

How to make Horehound Drops:

Combine the horehound with the water in a large saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Strain the mixture through cheese cloth. and allow the liquid to settle.

Put 2 cups of the horehound liquid into a large stock pan. Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, and cream of tartar. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often. Keep mixing until the mixture reaches 240`F on a candy thermometer. Add the butter and continue to boil until the mix reaches 300`F, which is also known as hard crack on your candy thermometer.

Remove the candy from the heat, and add the lemon juice. Quickly pour the drop mix into a buttered, 8″ pan. When the candy is cooling score it into squares, or wait until it’s cooled and break it apart. Store your horehound drops in an airtight container until you feel a sore throat coming on.

The horehound candy makes a wonderful home remedy for sore throats. Especially for kids (if they’re old enough to handle cough drops), because they taste great while they’re soothing your throat.

Image (c) L Gerlach