Yield: 50 candies
Ingredients
1 cup fresh horehound leaves chopped, or 1/3 cup dried horehound
2 cups water
1 cup honey (can be replaced with sugar)
1 cup sugar (white or light brown)
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Butter for greasing pan
Powdered sugar to toss finished pieces
For best results, you will need a candy thermometer
Directions
Add the horehound to water and bring to boil. Remove from heat and steep for 30-60 minutes. Use butter to grease a 9×13-inch pan. (Or use candy molds.) Strain the liquid to collect the infused water. Discard leaves.
Put all ingredients into a large pot and mix. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil until temperature reaches 300°F on a candy thermometer.
Options for finishing:
- Pour mixture into a pan greased with butter. When it starts to cool score with a knife into 1-inch squares. Break apart when cool.
- Allow pan to cool and break the sheet of candy into pieces.
- As soon as the candy is cool enough to handle, pinch off pieces and roll into candy-sized balls.
- Use candy molds.
- Toss pieces in powdered sugar to prevent sticking. Store in an airtight container.
You don’t need a garden to grow your own horehound plants; they’re happy growing in a pot on a sunny deck, patio or balcony. In fact, there are many herbs that thrive in containers. Learn more in our article Choosing Container Garden Herbs.
This is an amazing recipe! I love it. It’s a perfect mix of bitter and sweet!
Hi John,
Glad to hear it! It’s so nice to see horehound finding its way back into home gardens and people rediscovering this old-fashioned treat that was so familiar to previous generations.
Could I make it using the silver liquorish plant that I recently planted?
Hi Kate,
While we haven’t tried it, it’s easy to imagine taking this basic recipe and using alternative flavorings. A word of CAUTION regarding “licorice” plants. The edible licorice plant used for flavoring is the genus/species, Glycyrrhiza glabra. We suspect that the “silver licorice” plant you are asking about could be an entirely different genus/species, Helichrysum petiolare, that is not edible and in fact could do you harm if ingested. Please have a look at the plant photo on this page from the National Institutes of Health website or even do a larger image search for Glycyrrhiza glabra in your browser to confirm that the plant you are considering eating is, in fact, edible licorice and not the “silver licorice” that is strictly grown as an ornamental plant. The difference in their appearances is quite distinct and you should be able to visually tell what plant you have.