Old Fashioned Horehound Cough Drops Recipes

Steps:

• Wash horehound leaves and put in saucepan. Add water and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, mashing occasionally with fork. Remove from heat; cover and let cool (needs to stand at least 1/2 hour to infuse.
• While infusion in cooling, butter a 9x13 pan.
• Drain horehound leaves into measuring cup (I use a coffee filter to strain it). Be sure to squeeze all the liquid from the leaves. Make sure you have at least 1 cup of liquid. Discard leaves.
• Pour liquid into a 4 quart saucepan. Add brown sugar and syrup. Bring to a boil and cook to 300 degrees on a candy thermometer (hard crack stage).
• Pour into prepared pan and let cool. Just before it sets up, score into squares with a knife to make it easier to break apart. When cool and set, break into pieces and store in airtight container.
• Note: The infusion (liquid from the leaves) can be frozen to use later.

Steps:

• Black strap molasses is recommended.
• Let 1 cup horehound tea steep for about 3 minutes, or to taste. ( Made into tea with 1 cup boiling water). Do this with a regular coffee pot.
• In a saucepan with the sides buttered, add 1 cup horehound tea, 2 cups of sugar and 3 tablespoons butter + molasses.
• Bring to a boil with medium heat and continue to boil until temperature on a candy thermometer reaches 260-270 degrees. (This is really important because if it goes higher than this, the rolling and twisting becomes unmanageable. Gets hard to fast.).
• Pour into a buttered pan and let set until cool enough to handle.
• Pull candy with buttered hands, twisting into ropes 4-5 inches long. Snip into pieces with kitchen shears.
• When cut, place all the pieces in a plastic container with sugar and shake for coating.
• NOTES: to prevent unnecessary crystalization, never stir the pot or scrape the pan.