Homemade Cough Drops with Elderberry-Echinacea

Hi friends, I hope you’re all surviving the winter without being sick. But if you get sick, I discovered something new to share with you. A few weeks ago I had a cough and sore throat and came up with the idea to make my own cough drops using my granny’s elderberry-Echinacea syrup. After some research, I came up with a recipe that works brilliantly.

I was pleasantly surprised how easy they are to make and the most amazing thing… got my granny’s super cold and flu remedy in a portable format for when I’m leaving the house.

Here’s How I Made Them…

Ingredients

• 1 cup of my granny’s Elderberry-Echinacea cough syrup
• ½ cup hot water (not boiling)
• ¼ cup gelatin powder
• Candy mold, totally optional. I’ll show you a trick with powdered or icing sugar or starch.
• Powdered sugar for the coating (optional)

Directions (Part 1)

• First, make the elderberry syrup if you haven’t done that already. No worries, it’s super easy. Check out my previous blog post with my granny’s wonderful recipe.
• If you have candy molds at hand, give them a quick spray of cooking oil and you’re good to go.
• If not, I’ll show you a trick I used to make my drops. Pour powdered sugar or starch (I used powdered sugar as it gives your drops a nice, light sugary coat) into a pie pan or onto a baking sheet. Flatten the sugar or starch with your hands and make indentations with your fingers. (see pic below)
• Combine ¼ cup of the Elderberry-Echinacea cough syrup with the gelatin powder. I had my granny’s syrup stocked up, but if you just made the syrup make sure it’s completely cooled.
• Quickly whisk together and add ½ cup hot water and quickly stir until well combined.

Directions (Part 2)

• Add the remaining cough syrup and whisk until smooth.
• Pour the mixture into the molds or into the tiny holes you made in the sugar or starch.
• Set aside until firm and completely cooled.
• Pop the drops out of the molds and coat evenly with powdered sugar to prevent them from sticking. Place them in a sifter and shake to remove any excess sugar.
• Store in an airtight container. If you place them in the fridge they will last longer.
• Take as needed to soothe a sore throat or a cough.

If you don’t want to use the elderberry syrup you could swap it with a strong infused herbal tea and honey. I saw some recipes without the gelatin powder. Those recipes use honey and a heating process to make the syrup. I don’t have a candy thermometer and had gelatin powder in the house, so made it easy for myself.

But flu and cold season are far from over so maybe I’m going to try my hand at making those in the coming week and I’ll definitely keep you posted!

For more natural remedies to prevent or cure flu and cold, click here.

Have you made homemade cough drops before? Please share your thoughts, tips, and recipe with us in the comment box below.