Old fashioned herbal candies - part 2.

Our good friend Sally K. forwarded us this recipe - she hasn't tried it yet, but forwarded it because it uses sugar instead of liquid sweeteners - an easier and better option for some. She got this recipe from the book Herbal Sweets by Ruth Bass.

Sally Kilkenny January 28 at 5:01pm

4 cups boiling water
2 cups herb leaves with stems and blossoms (peppermint, spearmint - or any of the mints, horehound, wintergreen, lemon verbena)
3 cups granulated sugar
3 cups brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon butter plus more for the pan

- pour boiling water over herbs and steep for 10 minutes (longer for a stronger tea) - while steeping, butter a shallow pan
- strain tea, discarding the solids - return to a large saucepan and and sugars and butter - bring to a boil over medium heat - continue boiling until syrup hards when a small amount is dropped into cold water (hard ball stage, or 250-266 degrees F)
- pour into buttered pan and score into squares before setting completely, or break into pieces after candy hardens - wrap in waxed paper and store in an airtight container

variation: add 1 tablespoon mint leaves or 1 teaspoon crushed anise seeds to horehound herbs.

ALSO! I set up a Twitter account just for Prairieland Herbs. Follow Prairieland Herbs on Twitter! 

Homemade herbal candies? How COOL!

I haven't tried this yet, but it is now on my "someday" list! Here's a great "instructables" tutorial on making your own herbal homeade candies, customized to your needs and tastes.


I love their idea of taking a pre-blended tea and brewing it to make your homemade candy, that would be a great and easy way to start. However, I am also thinking it would be really fun to blend your own. How about....horehound, peppermint and sage for coughs? Ginger, lemon, elderberry and honey for flu. Years ago, my friend Abi sent me homemade garlic candies (I kid you not) they were strangely addictive and strongly anti viral! What blends would you try?

I wouldn't use corn syrup, personally (ugh) but would substitute some honey, as one of our facebook fans suggested, golden syrup (a cane sugar syrup). Or perhaps molasses, or agave? There are lots of more natural sweeteners, I'd give those a shot.....

Taking something artificially flavored, sweetened, and colored is not a great idea at any time, but ESPECIALLY when you're sick. It seems like having homemade herbal cough drops and candies on hand is a fantastic addition to any home herbal medicine chest.




All that sounds like a great idea, but way too much work for you? My awesome friend Tina has done the work for you. Check out her delicious homemade herbal candies.