Making Horehound Candy for the Homestead Medicine Chest

Grow your own horehound and make candy at home. Take advantage of this fun, interesting flavoured herb, to make throat soothing candies, and use the technique for other herbal soothing candies too. Lozenges can be stored indefinitely and are a great way to use herbs at peak and preserve them, in an easily consumable form, for winter flu season. 

Do you remember horehound candy? Those brown candies that you could buy at the candy store when candy came unwrapped and you bought 3 candies for a nickel?  They were flavoured with horehound and sugar.  They were originally made to soothe sore throats.  You could buy them as both pillow-shaped brown candies or brown and white striped candy sticks, right beside the humbugs and sarsaparilla candy sticks.

Horehound (Marrubium vulgare) is an easy to grow herb that is targeted for sore throats, coughs, and chest congestion.  Suck a horehound candy cough drop and you’ll get rid of the tickle and the cough will ease.  It is a targeted herb for bronchitis and also helps with irregular heart, and has been used in the treatment of malaria, and to reduce fever.  It is calming.

Horehound is a hardy perennial herb that is good in zones 4 to 8 (or zone 3 with snow cover).  Growing 18 inches high with a spread of about 12 inches, once it’s established you will have lots of herbs for your needs from 4 plants.  The leaves are green and wrinkled with a downy underside, and it has small clusters of white flowers that are not showy, growing up the stems in the leaf bracts.  It can be propagated from seed in Spring or from soft cuttings taken in summer.  Established clumps benefit from division in the Spring.  It can also be grown in a container, in a sunny position.

Harvest the stems during flowering, bundle, and dry away from sun and heat.  Once totally dry, strip the leaves and flowers from the stems and store them in a glass jar with a lid, in a cool, dark place.  Use the leaves and flowers for medicine.

Horehound is expectorant, anti-spasmodic, digestive, bitter, vulnerary, diaphoretic, and pectoral.  (Holistic Herbal by David Hoffman)

To use horehound you can make a strong tea, sweeten it with honey and drink it several times a day.  But when you are on the go or if you are treating children you sometimes want the medicine in a dry, and easy to carry form.  Horehound candy cough drops and lozenges fit the bill.

Cough drops are made like candy.  The herb is extracted in water and then candy is made by boiling a sugar mixture to the hard crack stage.  Lozenges are made using edible gum like Tragacanth or Acacia and sugar along with the dried and powdered herb.  Other herbs can be added to cough drops and lozenges as well to increase the effectiveness, or essential oils can be added.  The traditional Canadian remedy “Fisherman’s Friend” is a lozenge with licorice essential oil or anise essential oil added, for coughs and sore throat.

Horehound Candy Cough Drops (Makes 1 lb.)

To make horehound candy cough drops you will need a large stainless steel pan, a candy thermometer, and a stainless steel tray that has been heavily buttered, and insulated rubber gloves.  Before you begin you may want to read my tutorial on Candy making so that you understand the process.

To start make a strong decoction by steeping 1 cup of dried horehound leaves in 3 cups of boiling water.  Cover and let steep for 15 minutes.  Strain completely and squeeze leaves to get all the liquid out.  If you have extra liquid there is no need to worry as it will boil off during candy making.

• 2 cups of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 2 -3 cups of the strained decoction

Add all ingredients to 3 quart pot.  Stir in sugar to completely dissolve.  Put a lid on the pot and begin to heat it over medium heat.  When it boils rapidly, remove the lid and with a brush and water, dissolve any sugar crystals that may be adhering to the side of the pan.  Do not stir the mixture or it will seize.  Boil rapidly and insert a candy thermometer.  Boil to the hard crack stage or 300 F. Remove from heat.  Add flavoring if desired (eucalyptus, lemon, or vanilla) but stir as little as possible.

Pour the hot mixture out onto the greased baking sheet.  Allow it to cool for 2 minutes.  Using two greased spatulas begin to fold the candy mixture over on itself and repeat until the mixture is cool enough to handle with gloves on.  This will make the candy lighter and give it a better texture.

Then pull the candy as you would pull taffy.  It’s best to do this with two people, pulling a small amount of the recipe at a time.  Once the candy begins to stiffen, cut into 1/2 inch pieces with buttered scissors and drop onto a buttered pan.  Allow it to cool completely.  Dust with icing sugar and wrap individually in parchment paper or wax paper.  Store in a glass jar in air tight container.  Will last for up to 2 years.

Suck a horehound candy cough drop slowly, as needed.

Horehound cough drops

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• Author: Chris Dalziel
• Yield: 1/2 lb 1x

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Description

Horehound cough drops

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Ingredients

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• 1 cup dried horehound
• 3 cups boiling water
• 2 cups of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of honey

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Instructions

• To start make a strong decoction by steeping 1 cup of dried horehound leaves in 3 cups of boiling water.  Cover and let steep for 15 minutes.
• Strain completely and squeeze leaves to get all the liquid out.
• You should have 2-3 cups of the decoction.
• Add all ingredients to 3 quart pot.
• Stir in sugar to completely dissolve.
• Put a lid on the pot and begin to heat it over medium heat.  When it boils rapidly, remove the lid and with a brush and water, dissolve any sugar crystals that may be adhering to the side of the pan.
• Do not stir the mixture or it will seize.
• Boil rapidly and insert candy thermometer.
• Boil to the hard crack stage or 300 F.
• Remove from heat.  Add flavouring if desired (eucalyptus, lemon, or vanilla) but stir as little as possible.
• Pour hot mixture out onto greased baking sheet.
• Allow to cool for 2 minutes.
• Using two greased spatulas begin to fold the candy mixture over on itself and repeat until the mixture is cool enough to handle with gloves on.
• Then pull the candy as you would pull taffy.  Its best to do this with two people, pulling a small amount of the recipe at a time.
• Once the candy begins to stiffen, cut into 1/2 inch pieces with buttered scissors.  and drop onto buttered pan.
• Allow to cool completely.
• Dust with icing sugar and wrap individually in parchment paper or wax paper.
• Store in glass jar in air tight container.
• Will last for up to 2 years.

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Notes

Use cough drops as needed to soothe sore throats.

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Horehound lozenges

Lozenges use dried, powdered herbs for their potency or essential oils, rather than extracting the herbal medicine in water.  Altoid peppermint candies are lozenges, with a few more ingredients like gelatin, and icing sugar.  In their simplest form powdered slippery elm bark can be used instead of tragacanth gum to make lozenges.  To make horehound lozenges take the dried horehound and powder it completely in a food processor or blender.

To make lozenges you will need:

30 grams/1 ounce of Tragacanth gum

1/2 cup powdered, dried horehound herb

1/2 cup Brown sugar, or powdered stevia to taste

Icing sugar, or tapioca starch to prevent sticking

Method:

Soak 1 oz. of tragacanth gum in 2 cups of water overnight.  Bring mixture to a boil.

Beat until mixture is of uniform consistency.  Force it through a strainer to make mucilage. Add 1/2 cup powdered herb and 1/2 cup brown sugar.  Mix well into mucilage to make a thick paste.  Add more powdered herbs as necessary to get the right consistency.  You are looking for the consistency of pie dough.  Roll out with powdered sugar or cornflower to 1/2 inch thick.  Cut with round cutters, like a bottle lid or bubble tea straw.  Or roll into a rope and cut with powdered scissors.  Allow it to dry completely over a few days, away from humidity.  Sprinkle with more starch or icing sugar and store in air tight tin or wide mouth jar, tightly capped.  Makes 1/2 lb. of cough drops.  Horehound is bitter tasting so you will need more sugar or stevia to decrease the bitterness than when using an herb like anise or licorice that has its own sweet taste.

When making these herbal lozenges or candies from a single herb you are making an herbal simple. Horehound candy is an herbal simple unless you add more herbs.  Simples let you focus on the action of a single herb while combining herbs with similar actions will boost the potency of the simple.  Herbs that work well with horehound include Sage, thyme, oregano, echinacea, lemon balm, and peppermint.  Consider adding one or more of these herbs if you have them on hand.

This is part 3 of a series on Herbal medicine for your homestead.

Part 1, 10 Hardy Medicinal Herbs for your Homestead

Part 2, 10 Must Have Medicinal Herbs from the Grocery Store

Horehound Lozenges

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews

• Author: Chris Dalziel
• Yield: 1/2 lb 1x

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

---

Description

Lozenges use dried, powdered herbs for their potency or essential oils, rather than extracting the herbal medicine in water.  In their simplest form powdered slippery elm bark can be used instead of tragacanth gum to make lozenges .

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• To make horehound lozenges take the dried horehound and powder it completely in a food processor or blender.
• 30 grams/1 ounce of Tragacanth gum
• 1/2 cup powdered, dried horehound herb
• 1/2 cup Brown sugar, or powdered stevia to taste
• Icing sugar, or tapioca starch to prevent sticking

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

• Soak 1 oz. of tragacanth gum in 2 cups of water overnight.
• Bring mixture to a boil.
• Beat until mixture is of uniform consistency. Force it through a strainer to make mucilage.
• Add 1/2 cup powdered herb and 1/2 cup brown sugar.
• Mix well into mucilage to make a thick paste. Add more powdered herb as necessary to get the right consistency. You are looking for the consistency of pie dough.
• Roll out with powdered sugar or corn flower to 1/2 inch thick.
• Cut with round cutters, like a bottle lid or bubble tea straw. Or roll into a rope and cut with powdered scissor.
• Allow to dry completely over a few day, away from humidity.
• Sprinkle with more starch or icing sugar and store in air tight tin or wide mouth jar, tightly capped.
• Makes 1/2 lb. of cough drops. Horehound is bitter tasting so you will need more sugar or stevia to decrease the bitterness than when using an herb like anise or licorice that has its own sweet taste.

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