Thursday, February 10, 2011

Honey Lemon Throat Drops

"A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down." ~Mary Poppins

These soothing throat drops not only soothe the throat, the lemon helps clear up the phlegm and open the passageways.  There is no corn syrup, artifical colors or additives which makes them great for kids or anyone with allergies.  They are easy to make with just a few simple kitchen ingredients.

Honey Lemon Throat Drops

2 C. sugar
1/2 C. honey
3/4 C. water
juice of 1/2 lemon
1-2 Zinc tablets, crushed (optional)
1-2 Vitamin C tablets, crushed (optional)

Butter an 8"x8" pan. Set aside.

Place sugar, honey and water in medium saucepan. Place pan over medium heat.  Cook and stir until mixture boils, stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar. 

Turn the heat down to med.-low and continue to lightly boil , stirring occasionally until a candy thermometer reads 285 degrees (soft crack). Approx. 20 minutes total.

Remove from heat, stir in lemon juice. Add zinc and Vitamin C (if desired), letting mixture cool for 1-2 minutes. 

Pour into prepared pan.  Cool for 10 minutes, score top of mixture.  If not cool enough to score, wait a few minutes and try again.

Cool completely.  Break into pieces using score lines. 

You can wrap pieces individually or store in a baggie or other container until ready to use.

Store in a cool dark place.

50 comments:

mary said...

How cool! I can't wait to try these!

Patti Ingram said...

Wow! Very neat!

Nicola said...

Wow! I love this idea!

Melanie Shovelski said...

Can't wait to try tomorrow!
Thank you and many Blessings,
Melanie

elise said...

Thank you! I'm not sure the candy thermometer and I are on very good terms however.

:) Elise

Michelle @ Dream Home DIY said...

With as sick as we've been lately I think I might have to give these a try! Bound to be cheaper than purchasing cough drops right? I shared your recipe link on my Twitter account as well!! http://twitter.com/#!/DreamHomeDIY

Jacque in SC said...

Has anyone ever tried these with Splenda? Just asking... :) My hubby is diabetic, and I'd love to try making these for him.

Aysha_ff said...

this is perfect as I have a soar throat right this moment and need to clear out my throat :D:D:D:D:D Thanks for sharing!!

Love,

The Creative Muslimah @ www.thecreativemuslimah.blogspot.com

amanda said...

oh these are wonderful! I think I'm going to repost about it if that's ok with you! great blog!!

Hearthandshome said...

Feel free to share, just let people know where you found it.

Asel123 said...

Hi there,

Just a small question - is this 285 C or 285F?

Thank you,
Asel.

Hearthandshome said...

285 degrees Farenheit

Ana Kocijan4 said...

i tried them just now but my mixture is still watery :(

Hearthandshome said...

Is it really humid where you are?  Humidity can affect the consistency of stuff like this (any type of candy making).  Also, what kind of honey did you use?  If it was thin and runny that might play a factor too.  I use a local, raw honey and it is really thick.  Sorry you had trouble with the recipe!

Ana Kocijan4 said...

yeah, i used the chestnut honey which was thin and runny. i'll try it again :) thank you :)

Dogpackmomma said...

I want to give this a try. Thanks & Happy Trails!

Annathule said...

Thank you! My husband is in the *hospital* right now, cuz he can't clear the gunk in his lungs! He's diabetic too, but I don't think just that bit of sugar will hurt him. Oh and a candy thermometer and I have *never* met!! Guess this is a good a reason as any - wish me luck. Seriously!

BTW, folks, that zinc additive ROCKS! That's what makes Cold-Eeez work SO well. (And despite what the commercials say, both this AND the store bought product can be taken mid-cold and still have very effective results. This just doesn't have all the fake coloring, etc. and prolly WAY more honey!) Awesome find, this, thank you. :)

Anonymous said...

Wonder if you could use whiskey in this as well?

Anonymous said...

I am going to make these for my kids! Cold season is here! Could you flavour it with some peppermint? I don't like the taste of honey to much and was thinking of adding peppermint to some?

Lisa Dawn Haayen-Kellman said...

Are these safe for young children? (past choking age)

Lisa Dawn Haayen-Kellman said...

Are these safe for fairly young children when the vitamins are added- Like 3-4 year olds?

janina said...

That looks just splendid, with 2 small kids in the house this looks like a "life saver" :). But am I am just wondering, if you heat honey wouldn't it loose all the enzymes (above 40 C degrees) and almost all medicinal properties? (sorry for the bad english I am not a native speaker).

Anonymous said...

I have seen recipes for an all-honey recipe- don't know if that's better than sugar/honey combo like this. I saw it on pinterest.

Anonymous said...

How do you prepare the pan? Butter? Spray? Floured?

Anonymous said...

It says prep the pan with butter then set aside :)

Anonymous said...

It says prep the pan with butter then set aside :)

Anonymous said...

It says prep the pan with butter then set aside :)

natasgypsywinds said...

Could you add some cinnamon also?

Anonymous said...

Oh, janina, you're one of the few I see doing very well. Most "natives " are unable to speak or type this language. :)

taz said...

Does the zinc change the flavor of the drops at all? And is the vitamin C a chewable? If it is, would it be orange flavor?

olblou said...

Use organic erythritol, it will harden

hibernia said...

I'm a beekeeper you just killed the good in the honey

Anonymous said...

Have to agree with you. They would be better to just take a spoonful of raw honey!

Debbie said...

Your husband should be receiving Bowenwork.

Anonymous said...

What does the zinc do ?

Anonymous said...

Zink boosts the immune system. Vitamin C helps the zinc and also builds up the immune system. The honey will still soothe the sore throat even though it is heated. If the drops are a bit "runny", justreheat them at a low simmer to remove excess moisture out of them.

Anonymous said...

How long can you store these for?

Dan Peterson said...

i made this today, and it didn't harden, they're more like chews, they taste awesome however.

Anonymous said...

If you wanted the drops harder, you could heat then more. In candy-making 300-310F is the "hard crack" phase and is what would generally be used for lollipops and hard candy. The lower temperature in the recipe might still be better for kids.

Cindy Kreese said...

I'm going to try making these... I wonder what would happen if you cut back on some of the sugar and used more honey? I know zinc & vit C are both really good for you when you've got a cold...

Annathule said...

What's that? Never heard of it before...and if we have to go BACK to the hospital to get it - UH UH!!! *backing towards door* We nearly had to stage a mutiny to get him the heck OUTTA there!! LOL 6 days and counting.

Talk about "self-defeating"! They would test his blood before all meals, OK, standard. Then w/ breakfast, they would give him his steroid, (whatever it was.) Ohhhh no, BAD juju! By lunch his sugar would be 363 or some ridiculous number and they wouldn't let him go - they were (intentionally or not, and I can't see why otherwise) THEY were sabotaging his release!! So a really cool nurse said "Well, this (steroid) only says it needs taking by lunch, so If I take your lunch sugar BEFORE I give you the steroid, then your numbers should be alright!" Well, amazingly enough, his morning was a sedate 114 and lunch was a highly reasonable 122. They said "go", we were OUTTA there before they could change their minds!!!

But those nurses and CSN's and techs and such were all SO blessedly sweet and fun and just so awesome, if anyone reading this works w/ patients in a hospital, please accept my grateful appreciation for getting and keeping my husband's spirits up, (for your fellow workers and pass it along please), ESP. "razz" - he LOVES to "razz" and you give it right back at him! All the better DOUBLE! All this aids his health getting better as much as any pill or shot does, besides maybe an antibiotic or something like that. But y'all are a just a pinch behind that! :)

Anonymous said...

Interesting...so how long are they good for?

Nancy Cusack said...

I added ginger to the water, I'll let you know how it turns out.

Sherri said...

Do you think this would work with raw honey and agave nectar?

Carol Shaw Johnston said...

When I was a teenager, I used to make homemade hard candy substituting honey for the corn syrup in the recipe. I remember the candy was delicious. This sounds similar. I am going to give this a try. Thanks for sharing!

Bev said...

Love this. I have some whiskey flavoring I may add and then it should taste like the hot toddy my dad would make.

Laurel Mahas said...

This is my second attempt, and it's not hardening up. The first time, I didn't stir it much while it was boiling, and I kept it at the med-low temp. It took forever to get up to temp. This time, I turned up the heat and stirred continuously, after several minutes of it not getting hotter than 220. It's not hardening. What is going wrong?

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Sydney said...

I couldn't get the the temperature to go up to 285°. And now it wont even harden enough to let me score it, its been cooling for 2 hrs. Is there a way I can fix it?

zethreal said...

I know it's too late for the batch in question, but any candy can be re-melted with some water. Throw it all back in a pot with water & reprocess it according to the directions. The temperature will hang out at ~212 until all the water is boiled off.


If you are having difficulties getting it to 285, you either have a small stove or are stirring too often. Sorry I'm about a year late, but hopefully this helps your future candy making endeavors.