It seems as though everyone is coughing these days, and with flu season still going strong here is a recipe to make your cough drops at home. So if the store is closed, packed, out of stock, or you just don’t feel like leaving the comfort of your own home, this is for YOU!
Ingredients:
2 c water
1/4 c finely grated fresh ginger
3/4 c cane sugar (or brown sugar)
1/4 c maple syrup (or agave syrup)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp of arrow root powder (or cornstarch)
Boil the fresh ginger and water for about 10 minutes and then drain the ginger out, keeping just the liquid (tip; save grated ginger and add to a green smoothie).
Return the ginger water to a pot, add cane sugar, maple syrup, lemon juice, ground cinnamon, ground cloves. Stir often and keep on a medium boil until temperature reaches 260-300 the lower the temperature, the softer they will be. So if you like your cough drops to be more chewy take it off the heat once it reaches 260. If you prefer them harder, keep it boiling until 300 degrees.
No thermometer? No problem. Keep a close eye on the pan, when the colour starts to darken you will notice the liquid is becoming thicker. Do a water drop test frequently until desired thickness is achieved.
Water test: get a small bowl of cold water (you can even add an ice cube in there to be sure its nice and cold) drop a bit of the cough drop liquid into the bowl, it will harden from the cold. if the texture is to your liking, remove cough drops from heat.
If your cough drops are more chewy and soft, pour liquid in lines on parchment paper and then cut into appropriate sizes.
If your cough drops are harder, pour individual candy size amounts of liquid onto parchment paper.
Coat the drops in arrow root powder or cornstarch to prevent sticking. You can wrap them individually in the same piece of parchment paper or store them in a tin. I like to store mine in the fridge but they will do fine in any cool dry place.
There you have it, a very easy recipe for vegan ginger cough drops, no need to leave your home when you are not feeling well.