Own Cough Drops

When making cough drops there are some precautions you must take. Please, learn from my mistakes. Make sure you are extremely careful when handling candy, since it gets to very high temperatures. The containers you put them in, even if they are heat proof, will get very hot.

Also, the cough drops, once heated will have heated fumes coming off of the container. I made the mistake of taking a deep breath in, and since you are using oils, which are very strong, it actually made me choke, and almost drop the hot liquid. Avoid breathing the fumes in. You can easily wear the little face masks that are sold at Home Depot.

Cough Drop I: Spearming/Horehound/Peppermint Cough Drops - Not only are the three main ingredients good for coughs, they also freshen your breath.

You will need:
1/2 a cup of horehound tea leaves
1/2 a cup of spearmint leaves
vegetable oil
1 cup of sugar
`1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon peppermint oil

Place the horehound and spearmint leaves in a medium heatproof glass bowl. Bring two cups of water to a boil. Pour the water of the leaves and allow it to steep for three minutes. Strain the liquid into a two cup liquid measuring cup. Add enough water to total two cups.

Brush a baking pan with a liberal amount of vegetable oil, and set the pan aside. Heat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large saucepan set over a medium-high heat, and combine the tea, sugar and corn syrup. Stir to dissolve the ingredients. Cook until a candy thermometer registers 280 degrees, for about thirty-five minutes

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the peppermint oil. Pour three 12 inch long strands onto the baking pan. Allow the mixture to cool slightly for two to three minutes. When its cool enough to handle, roll each strand into a tube shape about a half an inch in diameter. Let cool for about one and a half to two minutes. Place the tubes onto your cutting board, and cut into small disks.