Cough Drops – Black Strap Molasses type

Ingredients:

  • 1 T dried sage leaves
  • 1 T dried hyssop leaves
  • 1 T dried thyme leaves
  • 2 C of organic sugar
  • 3/4 cups of organic black strap molasses
  • 1 C hot water (approx. 192o F)
  • 9″×13″ glass casserole dish (or similar)
  • Coconut oil for greasing casserole dish
  • Candy thermometer

Instructions

  1. Lightly grease the casserole dish with the coconut oil
  2. Combine the herbs and steep them in 1 C of hot water (covered) for at least 15 min. (or as long as 1 hour).  This will be your Herbal Infusion.
  3. Strain out the herbs if they were used loose in the hot water.
  4. In a medium sauce pan combine the molasses, sugar and half of the Herbal Infusion (4 oz.*) that you made in step #2.
  5. Place sauce pan on medium-high heat and constantly stir until the temperature of the mixture reaches 300oF (hard crack candy temperature).  This will take between 15 and 30 minutes.  To keep the foaming down you may want to add a fingernail sized piece of butter to the boiling mixture.
  6. Once at 300F pour into the glass greased casserole dish.
  7. IMMEDIATELY cut (score) “cut” lines into the solidifying mixture.  It will solidify fast!  One way to do this is to cut out the lozenges using the end of a spatula to make lines across the dish in both directions. Keep going over and over the lines until the mixture completely hardens. You could also try using a knife or a pizza cutter.  The mixture will solidify in about fifteen minutes.
  8. Once the mixture hardens you can store your cough drop pieces in an airtight container and keep them in a cool place.

*For stronger cough drops you can boil down the 8 ounces of you Herbal Infusion until only 4 ounces remain and use those 4ounces in the recipe.

– Typically shelf-life is 1 year.
– If you live in a warm or humid environment you can also cover the pieces with an herbal powder (rose petal powder is nice) or powdered sugar to keep them from sticking to each other.