Cough drops

It is starting to get cold out, which means that getting sick isn't far behind. I caught a cold early this year and after trying to find a flavor of cough drops at the store that didn't make me cringe I decided to try my own. These aren't medicated at all but if your sore throat isn't bad these will do the trick. The two pictured are vanilla/peppermint and honey/lemon/sage but you could really flavor these however you'd like.

Ingredients:

For vanilla peppermint:

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup water
2 drops green food coloring
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
powder sugar mold (just pour 2 cups powdered sugar in a 9x13" pan and press a measuring spoon in it until little holes remain)

For honey, lemon, sage:

1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon sage
zest of one lemon
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup water
juice of one lemon
2 drops yellow food coloring
powder sugar mold (see above)

Directions:

(If making the honey, lemon, sage option: boil 1/2 cup water, 1 tablespoon sage, and lemon zest together. Remove from heat and allow to steep for 20 minutes. Strain and measure out 1/3 cup) Both versions follow the next steps: Combine water (or sage/lemon water), sugar, and corn syrup (or honey) in a large, heavy bottomed pot. Heat over medium-low heat and stir until sugar is fully dissolved. Stop stirring and boil mixture until it reaches 300 degrees*. Remove from heat and add flavorings and coloring. Spoon the syrup into the holes that you created in your powdered sugar and transfer to the refrigerator. After a few minutes remove from the refrigerator and shake the pan so that the powdered sugar coats all the sides. Let them rest until they fully harden.

*you can either use a candy thermometer (which is great if yours is accurate) or you can do what I did and do the cold water test. All you have to do is fill a dish with cold water and spoon a bit of your syrup into it. If it is at 300 degrees it will harden instantly and you can hear a "clink" when it hits the bottom. It will not form a ball and there will be hard strings of candy throughout the water.