Posted by Brittany Thomas | Sep 27, 2011
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Skip the yucky ingredients and make your own homemade cough drops and cough drop lollipops! Plus cough drop lollipops are safe for kids!
Fall is officially here and with it came the beginning of my family’s cold season.
Sigh. I was hoping we wouldn’t get sick quite so soon. However, with kids and multiple kid-filled events per week it was bound to happen.
There is one advantage to getting sick so early in the game; I now have an excuse to start making all kinds of home remedies.
Some home remedies make the cut and some don’t but the ones that do I am going to share with you!
Cough drops can be a wonderful thing. Anyone with a sore throat or nagging cough will tell you that they love a good cough drop.
The funny thing is that many cough drops are full of ingredients that aren’t good for you.
Sugar, food dyes, soy can all be found in common cough drops.
Do you really want to be using a cough drop with those ingredients?
The good news is that homemade cough dropsare incredibly easy to make!
Cough Drops For Kids
Naturally kids need cough drops too but I don’t like giving my kids itty bitty pieces of hard candy.
Cough drop lollipops (or cough drop suckers) are a logical solution. Cough drops on a stick.
Homemade Cough Drops and Cough Drop Lollipops
½ cup to 1 cup honey (honestly any amount would do probably)
Candy thermometer (optional)
Lollipop sticks
Lollipop mold (although if you do not have a mold you could make free form lollipops by pouring the honey over the stick on a non-stick surface)
Cook:
Pour honey into small saucepan and cook over low heat. Stir constantly and bring honey to a boil. If using candy thermometer, insert in and continue to stir the honey until it has reached a temperature of 300 degrees.
Remove from heat and move to test phase.
If not using the candy thermometer then continue cooking and occasionally test. Just don’t wait too late to test; testing too early is better then testing too late.
Test:
To make sure your honey has reached the right consistency, place a drop or two of honey into a cup of ice water.
If the honey turns and stays hard (like a hard candy) then you are good to go.
If it is still soft then you need to keep cooking a bit longer.
Making the Cough Drop Lollipops
With Molds- Grease lollipop molds and insert sticks so that they are ready in the mold.
Pour honey into mold and let cool at room temperature. (No cheating and putting them into the fridge. It won’t work)
Without Molds- Lay lollipop sticks on a greased non-stick surface such as a silicone mat or parchment/wax paper. Carefully pour honey over each stick, creating a free form lollipop.
Making Cough Drops Without Sticks
Instead of making lollipops, you can of course make regular cough drops. You can purchase cough drop molds or any small mold will work. I used my lollipop mold to try out my cough drops and it worked fine.
You could also create free form cough drops just like the free form lollipops. Same instructions apply; pour honey into mold or onto a greased non-stick surface and let cool.
Cough Drop Add Ins
Now just plain honey is great but you can get really creative with these! I have made cinnamon cough drops as well as a ginger variety like my ginger mint anti-nausea lollipops.
I am also interested in trying herbal cough drops my steeping herbs in the honey (you’d probably want to strain the herbs before making the cough drops)
Think chamomile, thyme, or mint. I’d also be curious to see how a dash of elderberry syrup would do in these cough drops.
Note: Babies under the age of 1 year should not be given honey.
Need more ways to ease that cough?
Lemon Thyme Tea
Homemade Vapor Rub
Kid Friendly Vapor Rub
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About The Author
Brittany Thomas
A mother to five kids, Brittany began her journey of living naturally because she wanted the best for her kids. She blogs at The Pistachio Project in order to share what she learns with others. When she is not blogging, you can find Brittany making elderberry syrup, whipping up yet another batch of sunbutter, or drinking her fourth cup of tea.
61 Comments
Mommy Is Green on September 27, 2011 at 5:06 am
This is really cool! So much more fun for kids than just a spoonful of honey.
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Krissa on September 29, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Very cool…I would think adding elderberry syrup or lemon essential oil would be a great addition. If you try it, let us know how it turns out!
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aseedinspired.com on September 29, 2011 at 4:17 pm
Get out of town!
You are rockin my world!
We are getting bees next year… This is fabulous.
With this giant tribe I will have to make more then Willy Wonka!
Bookmarking this…and emailing this to friends.
Genius.
TReply
Katie @ Imperfect People on September 29, 2011 at 5:53 pm
Oh my! I need to write you a personal thank you note for the upcoming cough season! This is great! Adding you to min pintrest
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Jo's Health Corner/www.naturallysports.com on September 30, 2011 at 6:02 pm
This is such a great idea! I have to give this a try. It would be great to add some essential oils. My kids will love these.
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nicole aka gidget on October 2, 2011 at 9:47 pm
seriously cool! I guess I need to look into some lollipop molds!
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scs on October 3, 2011 at 4:29 am
LOVE this idea! Googling lollipop molds right now!
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Rebecca ~ Sweet Baby Yams on October 3, 2011 at 2:01 pm
This is a great idea! Perfect timing!
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Ange on October 3, 2011 at 5:53 pm
300 degrees – F or C?
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Brittany @ The Pistachio Project on October 3, 2011 at 7:25 pm
Ange – 300 degrees F!
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Christy on October 7, 2011 at 10:10 am
adding this to my crunchy to do list! 😉
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Daisy and Ryan on October 8, 2011 at 2:31 pm
My 12-yr-old would love the cough drops, I'm sure – esp if I add in the ginger! He loves cough drops… My 3-yr-old, however…if I give him a sucker, he BITES it and chews it up. Ugh. Not sure this would work with him. Haha! He would just be eating honey the way he does it. Great idea for those that can actually suck on a sucker/drop!
I've never been a fan of conventional cough drops b/c I can't stand the taste, etc. Never have been able to keep any in my mouth for more than a few seconds. Yuck. I've tried Slippery Elm drops, which actually work really well and I liked just fine. Until I realized I was allergic (took a few tries before the reaction was bad enough…then testing confirmed the allergy). So, this is great b/c I was out of ideas for cough drops! 🙂
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Amanda on October 14, 2011 at 3:49 pm
I just made these today. I love how easy it was! Except, I did burn my finger and melt my measuring spoon 🙁 But other than that, it worked great. I took mine off the heat when the thermo read 300, but I think I could have waited just a bit more (I tested, but had a toddler who needed to use the potty so I was rushed). the honey at the bottom of the pan hardened up better than the first spoonfuls out. And next time I'll buy a mold 🙂 But I DO LOVE this idea and I'll use it again and again. Thanks!!!
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Mrs. Party Pants Potter on October 21, 2011 at 2:52 pm
Great idea! I have a sick kiddo right now, so I can't wait to make them! I don't have sticks or molds, but I DO have ice cube trays. I hope they don't melt, but I think if I only filled them a little bit they would make a nice little rectangle cough drop. Thanks for the great idea!
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Anonymous on November 1, 2011 at 7:56 pm
since I already have my elderberry syrup made,contains ginger,cinnamon,and raw honey, wouldn't the 300 degrees eliminate the nutritional values of the ginger, cinnamona and elderberry?
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Brittany @ The Pistachio Project on November 1, 2011 at 7:58 pm
Anonymous – hmm well to some extent yes. Your raw honey definitely won't be raw anymore but I still think all those ingredients will still have some benefit. At the very least, I think they are still better then a conventional cough drop.
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Missy on November 18, 2011 at 1:25 pm
OH MY GOSH!!! I LOVE U!!! My little one will LOVE U!!! I never thought of this!!! This is a great treat as well. My poor LO hasn't had a sucker in over a year because of her allergies!!! This is just wonderful!
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Anonymous on January 27, 2012 at 3:02 pm
Not so easy. First a warning that you should use a pot large enough for the boiling honey to Double in size. Stirring Constantly and quite vigorously should be emphasized. First try boiled over the sides of the pot, even after my attempt to lift it off the burner in time. Second, read "candy mold" package carefully, mine said "not for hard candy" in the fine print. Third, getting to 300 was not as easy as I'd expected. It hovered at 200 for 15 minutes. However, even after stopping and restarting a few times, the finished honey candy is dark, rich, delicious, and very satisfying. I made some drip-pops for the kids, by dripping the cooling honey on the ends of lollipop sticks I'd bought at Walmart. As the center drops cooled, I dropped "flower petals" around the edges which are small enough not to choke on. On a non-stick cookie sheet, they popped right off when cool. I also made some drops for me. I'll be surfing up some candy molds tonight. Thanks for the recipe. I've been thinking there should be "lollipop cough drops" for kids for a week of this nasty cold. The endgame will be much less unpleasant!
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Joanna on January 29, 2012 at 8:04 am
Sounds yummy, but I read honey looses its benefits when heated…
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Brittany @ The Pistachio Project on January 29, 2012 at 8:05 am
Honey probably does loose its benefits when heated although it might keep some. However, even if it had no real benefits, this still makes a safer cough drop.
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Nyllix on February 8, 2012 at 10:08 am
Love this idea! I'm going to try to find small molds to make cough drops (think Hall's size). I think they would be great to drop in a cup of tea!
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Anonymous on February 20, 2012 at 9:41 pm
I just tried this. I didn't have a candy thermometer but thought since I have made Glass Candy many times without it I could do this. Not so easy. Highly recomend using the thermometer as I scorched mine. Even though I have done the same testing for glass candy it was a lot harder to tell with honey as aposed to corn syrup. My nephew is alegeric to corn so was giving this a try.
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Brittany @ The Pistachio Project on February 20, 2012 at 9:42 pm
Yes it is harder to do without a thermometer. However, that is how I do it. I just made sure to keep dropping a bit into cold water every minute or two toward the end. It was annoying to test so often but it is easy to scorch otherwise.
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CDGriffith16 on March 7, 2012 at 1:20 pm
Tried this, used a candy thermometer, and free poured onto my greas ed silpat. It definitely reached at least 300 (not sure how much higher, distracted by toddler), but it didn't burn. It was very runny and even doing a very slow pour it ran all over my silpat in thin pools. Once cooled down it is still soft, like taffy. I thought they were supposed to be hard? I used all the honey I had (about 1/3 cup), so I will have to wait to try it again, hopefully I just did something wrong because this sounded awesome for my toddler who won't eat spoons of honey.
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Brittany @ The Pistachio Project on March 7, 2012 at 1:21 pm
They are suppose to get hard but I'd say they aren't rock hard. When we suck on ours they definitely bend a bit in our mouths as they conform to our sucking…. but freshly made they should be hard.
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Katherine Rae on April 25, 2012 at 5:42 pm
What a fantastic idea!!
I've got five younger brothers–and I'd love to be prepared for the next time cold and flu season comes around.I might consider adding in a few things like cayenne pepper, or cider vinegar, just for the anti-cough benefits.
Just an idea! 🙂
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Anonymous on June 3, 2012 at 7:30 pm
i like the idea of lollypops, but please, do your research- heated honey might be toxic and at the least looses all the antimicrobial and other good properties that it is being used for
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Brittany @ The Pistachio Project on June 3, 2012 at 7:31 pm
I have yet to find any good research on honey being toxic when heated. Granted I will admit that it looses all it's good properties and such when heated but I still think it's great for cough drops (definitely better then some commercial brand ingredients)
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Rebecca on June 4, 2012 at 6:37 pm
If its really humid when you make them, they might not set.
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Rebecca on June 4, 2012 at 6:37 pm
I make hard candy on a regular basis, and you are correct that it will hover at 212* for a while as this is the boiling point for water and it will stay at this temp until all the water is boiled out of it.
But, you do NOT need to stir. Stirring will make it slosh up the sides and then some of it might not make it to the hard crack stage, and can result in grainy candy. 🙂 Just use a good heavy pan, keep the heat medium-low and be patient.
If you have a store like Hobby Lobby, look there for molds. But yes, you have to be sure they are made for hard candy or the plastic will melt. Lorann Oils makes many different kinds! Amazon probably has some too.
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Amanda on August 9, 2012 at 8:12 pm
Honey has many healthy properties that are not destroyed by been heated. Granted that a lot of the heat sensitive properties would be destroyed (mostly vitamins) but honey has such a complex compostition of properties and no 2 batches of honey are the same……everybody also forgets that honey can get quite hot in a hive sitting out in the sun on a 100 degree day and still be raw honey. Honey is healthy.
I think this is a great idea and would happily make these for my children over giving them commercial cough drops.Reply
Allyse on November 14, 2012 at 10:23 am
@CDGRIFFITH16
It sounds like your candies were over cooked. As strange as it seems, cooking sugar past the hard crack stage can lead to trouble with setting up, giving you soft, flexible candy instead of hard. I'm a culinary student and i was making candy the other day and exactly the same thing happened to me. It's better to err a degree or 2 lower than yhe suggested temperature rather than bring it up too high. It may alsp help to check your thermometers accuracy as they can easily get out of whack. You can do this by bringing a pot of water to a hard, rolling boil and placing your thermometer in the water. Water boils at 212 degrees so check to see of the temperature is off and adjust accordingly. Hope this helps!Reply
Dale on November 14, 2012 at 2:06 pm
Don't forget that horehound is the classic go-to herb in the cough and sore throat arsenal. I'll bet it would be great in this as well.
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Anonymous on November 27, 2012 at 10:53 am
Honey is not toxic when heated but most of the health benefits are reduced and the form of sugar changes, so it more readily feeds candida and pathogens. It's not just vitamins that are lost, also enzymes, probiotics, and other things that are good for immunity.
Herbs, etc. should be fine, and I would use this as a way to get the herbs in moreso than the honey… ie. in addition to some raw honey.
And I don't use commercial cough drops, either. No need for them 🙂
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Jessie on November 29, 2012 at 3:58 pm
I just made these, and it was pretty easy if paying attention. I bought candy molds at Michael's, they're in the cake aisle.
Also, to answer the writer's question, yes, adding essential oils and a bit of other syrups works well. I am a Chinese herbalist and I prepared a highly concentrated tea of herbs that relieve coughing, strained out the raw herbs, then added about 1.5 cups of honey to that condensed liquid and proceeded as usual. At the very end, I turned off the heat and stirred in about 7-8 drops of Peppermint essential oil to make them taste better (the herbs are slightly bitter). I'm sure elderberry syrup would be fine too — my herbal liquid was about 1/2 cup, plus the honey, and the candies hardened just fine.
Thanks for the recipe! I might include these in xmas gift bags this year!
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Anonymous on December 8, 2012 at 8:50 pm
Just tried to make these. It never got to 300 and ended up burned. I tested throughout the process just to check. I used a cup of honey because I wanted to make lollipops and lozenges. I'm going to give it another go with some water added but not tonight.
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Brittany @ The Pistachio Project on December 8, 2012 at 8:53 pm
I'm sorry they didn't turn out. Honestly, I've always found candy making to be an inconsistent thing. Hopefully it will work for you next time!
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Brooke on December 20, 2012 at 10:30 am
I just made these. I poured the honey into molds I bought from Michaels that said not for hard candy. Ugh! But, I just checked them and the plastic didn't melt…at least not on the outside. I touched the bottom of the mold and the honey felt hard so hopefully hard crack stage honey is ok for these molds. Anyways, I poured them half full of honey and then for half of them I dropped one drop of elderberry extract on them and the other half I dropped one drop of echinacea extract on them. Then, I filled them with more honey the rest of the way. The spoon I used for all this became the chef's sucker 🙂 and I have to admit the honey was really yummy to suck on this way. I plan on giving these suckers to my friends' kids for Christmas. Thanks for such a unique recipe!!!
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Josh/Leah on December 29, 2012 at 10:36 am
Thank you so much for sharing this! I have purchased "throat suckers" from CVS Pharmacy for my kiddos in the past, but, of course they are filled with all the artificial junk…these are a much better option. Can't wait to try them!
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Max Munro on October 6, 2013 at 10:02 am
I tried this and they came out great! They were sort of like really tough toffees or really soft hard candies and they almost pulled my teeth right out of my face but they were fantastic. Just one question though. When cooking them it bubbled up a lot! it overflowed a little. how come this happened and how can i fix it? Also the temperature wouldn't get up to 300.
Thanks 🙂Reply
Brittany Thomas on October 6, 2013 at 10:07 am
Hello Max,
Glad you had such a great success with the cough drops despite the bubbling issues. The honey will bubble a lot. This is one reason why it's best to constantly stir it (besides the burning issue) As for overflowing issues, you might want to go up a pot size. I used my small pot but I was only cooking 1/2 cup of honey. Also make sure you cook it over low so that the bubbling is reduced as much as possible (high temperatures mean more bubbling action). As for the temperature, that is likely just an issue of time. My guess is since you were combating overflowing issues that you just couldn't let it cook at long as you wanted. More time and you would have likely reached 300.Reply
Max Munro on October 15, 2013 at 12:36 pm
Thanks! looking forward to trying these again. Definitely subscribing : )
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Shary on April 1, 2014 at 8:46 am
Just honey? Seriously? Shut the front door!!!
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Amy Maus on January 5, 2015 at 2:34 pm
Love how your new site looks…:). Also, this is such an amazingly creative idea – I wonder if adding a very small amount of Super Tonic would also be beneficial?
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Heather on January 5, 2015 at 2:34 pm
that is awesome! I love that it's just honey!!!
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Brittany Thomas on January 5, 2015 at 2:35 pm
Thanks Amy,
I'm not familiar with Super Tonic but I know there is a lot that you could add to these cough drops that would make great additions. 🙂Reply
Randi Walker on May 12, 2015 at 10:26 am
Hi, I'm curious if cooking the honey will destroy the natural enzymes in it? Is the honey as effective after it's been cooked than before? I love this idea, just wondering 🙂 Thanks!
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Brittany Thomas on May 12, 2015 at 10:28 am
Hi Randi,
Yes, sadly heating past 160 degrees or so does destroy the enzymes. Thus making these cough drops not as healing or healthy as raw honey. However, it does make them a bit longer lasting than just a spoonful of honey, so if you need something that you can suck on for a while these are a great way to go.Reply
DIY Crush Blog on October 19, 2015 at 5:23 pm
Wow, this so great to know you can make cough drop lollipops yourself! Thanks for the great recipe!
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Heaven Smiling on October 20, 2015 at 12:15 pm
These look wonderful. The colds have hit us at full steam. I already give my kids a honey cough syrup, so this is right up my alley. Thank you! Pinning and stumbling.
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Stone Cottage Adventures on October 24, 2015 at 9:09 am
'Hopping over from your feature at Scratch Mommy. Thank you for the recipe! 'Definitely making some of these today! -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
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Raia on December 18, 2015 at 2:57 pm
Just stopping back in to let you know this was the most popular link at last weekend's Savoring Saturdays, so we'll all be featuring it this weekend. 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing it with us!
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Raia on December 18, 2015 at 2:58 pm
I have a feeling that if I made these there would be a sudden outbreak of "coughs" in my house. 😉 Thanks for sharing them at Savoring Saturdays, Brittany!
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Delci @ Heritage Club Stables on September 28, 2016 at 5:50 pm
Wow! This is easy! I’ll have to give it a try!
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Marla on October 1, 2016 at 8:12 am
HI Brittany,
What a wonderful idea. These tasty little cough helpers would be great for just a snack even you didn’t have a cough. I really am going to try these – they sound so easy to make. Thanks for sharing on Real Food Fridays. Pinned & tweeted!Reply
marla on October 6, 2016 at 8:12 am
HI Brittany,
Just a note to let you know that I have chosen your post as one of my features for this week Real Food Fridays blog hop that goes live every Thursday @7 pm EST. Thank you for being part of Real Food Fridays mission and sharing your valuable information with us.Reply
ALicia@Eco Natural Soap on October 11, 2016 at 2:03 pm
Definitely going to have to make these!!
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Robin on April 28, 2017 at 12:25 pm
I just made these and they turned out exactly like ones I made from another recipe – not rock hard but hard enough, and chewy when put in your mouth. My kids love them! The other ones I mentioned, were to be put in the freezer for storage. How do you store yours?
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Brittany Thomas on April 28, 2017 at 12:51 pm
I store in the freezer as well.
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Chan on January 3, 2019 at 3:21 pm
How would you store these? And how long do you think they would stay good?
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Brittany Thomas on January 4, 2019 at 9:40 am
I prefer to store mine in the freezer as that keeps them from collecting moisture (which is a problem where I live but might not be an issue in dry climates). I’d say they’d last 6 months but I’ve not had any stick around that long.
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