Soothe a sore, inflamed throat with these natural lemon honey cough drops.
While getting cough drops from the store or pharmacy is convenient, it may contain preservatives, too much processed sugar and even coloring that we don’t want to have in our bodies. Here’s how you can make your own cough drops with just a few ingredients and store them in the refrigerator for when you’re feeling under the weather!
Why Honey and Lemon Help Soothe a Sore Throat
Honey is a balm for sore throats and calms those hacking coughs so you can sleep better at night, that can be both taken as part of tea, or taken in the form of cough drops. Not only does it soothe sore throats, honey has antimicrobial properties that help improve the healing process and reduce the healing time.
Lemon is rich is vitamin C whose high antioxidant content helps to combat free radicals and helps you to better fight off the infection. The natural acidity of lemon also helps to break down mucus and phlegm. So, if you’re feeling congested and coughing, a bit of lemon can do the trick!
Kitchen Tips
- Don’t have a candy thermometer? In the case that you don’t own a candy thermometer, there’s a simple test that you can use to check for when the mixture is ready. Simply drop some of the mixture into a bowl of cold water, and if the mixture hardens in the cold water, it means its ready. If not keep on heating the mixture until it passes the test.
- If you don’t have a silicon candy mold, not to worry. Simply drop the mixture by ¼ teaspoon to form small round circles on parchment paper. You will not get uniform circles but it doesn’t matter, it still tastes the same and the cough drops work just as well.
- 1 cup honey
- 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Arrowroot starch for coating (optional, if the candy gets too sticky)
- Combine honey and lemon juice in a skillet and bring to a boil over medium low heat, making sure to stir often to prevent burning.
- Use a candy thermometer to check when the mixture reaches 375F.
- Once mixture reaches the temperature, pour it into a silicone candy mold as quickly and carefully as possible to prevent it from hardening.
- Allow the mixture to cool and harden completely (at least 40 minutes). Once hardened, remove the cough drops from the mold.
- Store the cough drops in an airtight container in the refrigerator to prevent them from getting humid and sticky.
If you’re looking for more ways to protect your immune system (and stop scratchy throats, too), I recommend trying out Beekeeper’s Natural Propolis Spray here. Using the power of the hive, it’s like carrying a bodyguard in a bottle.
Where to Find Ingredients
Here are our ingredient suggestions for these lemon honey cough drops.
Organic Arrowroot Powder | Starwest Botanicals
Is arrow root starch same as arrow root powder?
Hi Shireen, Yes, they are both the same:) ~ Jeanne HB Team
Thank you!!! ❤️❤️❤️
Can we include essential oil’s in these? I’m thinking thieves.
If so, at what stage of the process would we include them and how many would you suggest?
Thank you!
Donthese get chewy and sticky as you suck on them or do they stay hard?