Slippery Elm is wonderful for pesky coughs. It’s known to help soothe irritations, moisten dry throats and calm coughs. When paired with raw honey {which is naturally antibacterial, antiseptic and antifungal} it provides a wonderful natural remedy for coughs.
Homemade Slippery Elm Cough Drops
Equipment: Small bowl
Homemade Slippery Elm Cough Drops
Yield 40 cough drops
These are so easy to make. Make sure to always have some slippery elm powder on hand.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup slippery elm powder *
- 3 tablespoons raw honey {I use local raw clover creamed}
- 3 tablespoons raw cacao powder or carob powder
- ½ - 1 teaspoon ground Ceylon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon gluten free organic vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add all ingredients. With clean hands, mix to combine until it forms a dough.
- Break off small pieces of dough {about ½ - 1 teaspoon} and roll into little balls. You can also roll dough into a thin “snake” and break off small pieces to roll into balls.
- Place in a bowl and leave out on the counter covered. They will start to dry out a little becoming more like a lozenge. They can be consumed right away as is or when they have dried.
Notes
Dosage: Suck on these cough drops as often as needed. Safe for children too {not for babies under 1 year old, due to the raw honey}.
Note: If you do not care for cacao or carob, omit and replace with extra slippery elm powder.
I made this version with cacao powder. The other photos are made with less cacao powder.
Are you on Pinterest? I pin lots of yummy real food recipes + more there. I have a board just for Holistic Health + Remedies too. Come follow along.
MORE THAT YOU MIGHT ENJOY
Wellness Tips for Back to School
Disclaimer: ALL information you read on Recipes to Nourish is purely for informational and educational purposes only. I love to share and share with love, but I am not a health care practitioner. This information is not intended to treat, cure or prevent any disease. If you have questions about food, diet, nutrition, natural remedies or holistic health, please do your own research and consult with your health care practitioner.
I made these today for my 3 yo who has a cough. I only had 1/8 cup slippery elm, so I used 1/8 cup acerola powder in addition. They taste great! I hope they help!
Oh what a great idea Sarah! I love the added vitamin C. I hope they help some. They have been helping me a great deal with the cough I have. Take care, be well.
Can you store these? Thanks for all the wonderful recipes!
I have always kept them out on the counter for about a week (in an airtight container), they seem to keep well, just continue to dry out over the days. I have never kept them longer than a week, so I am not positive on storage, sorry. Hope that helps some.
Thank you Emily! I finally made these. Finally had a reason to as I have a painful sore throat that started last night. It feels much better after eating some of this “candy”. I didn’t get as much yield as the recipe suggested and perhaps my dough was too wet and sticky so a lot of it ended up on my hands. Next time I think I will try with Marshmallow root powder instead of slippery elm bark since I have both on hand currently.
Hope you feel better soon! The “dough” should be pretty dry, you can always add more slippery elm powder to help absorb some of the moisture if there is too much.
The last few colds I’ve had started with a sore throat and then turned into full-blown colds that lasted for weeks. This time when I felt a sore throat coming on – and it was accompanied by aches and chills – I immediately started sucking on the slippery elm candies I’d made earlier. Within 2 days I was back to normal! Of course, I don’t know if I was ‘cured’ by the candies, but I’m going to take them whenever I feel a cold or sore throat coming on.
That’s so great that they helped. Slippery Elm is pretty great stuff, I’m glad you’re feeling better.
I found this recipe of your a while ago. My children have been pretty healthy until now. 4 out of 5 of them have a cold with a cough. My daughter woke up and was miserable. I gave her one of these “candies”, and I have not heard her cough anymore. Thank you for posting this recipe.
I’m so glad they’re helping! I hope they all feel better soon. Take care of you too.
U saved me!There is another 3-year old here. You know what it means:)
Love these! I will definitely have to make them as I am positive that my family would like them! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks! They’re super easy to make too 🙂
Have you made them with horsehound too? I wonder which one you like better?
I’ve never heard of horsehound.
I believe Anna means horehound. It is used in cough preparations, also.
Thanks Audrey! 🙂
I’ve never heard of slippery elm! I’m eager to try these… I’m with Anna, I have heard of horsehound easing coughs (and it works), but I was never terribly fond of the flavor. I always love a good home remedy, thanks!
🙂 Slippery elm kind of tastes like “cream of wheat” … that’s how someone explained the flavor to me.
How interesting! Pinning this for when my family are coldy. Thanks.
Thanks for pinning it!
I can’t wait to make these. Pinning. My kids are going to start looking forward to getting sick, lol! Even the title made me happy!! Super fun to see one of your older posts!!
LOL don’t get sick, but if someone does, these are sure helpful. My husband got a bad cold in December with an awful cough, so I made some and redid the photos. My older photos aren’t so pretty 😉
These are such a great idea Emily! Pinning and sharing these!
Thank you Renee! xo I really appreciate it.
I’m interested in making a syrup like elderberry syrup. Any idea if this is possible to do with slippery elm bark powder, raw honey etc. ? I’m wanting it for my 4 year old to see if it helps with some stomach issues and I think a syrup would be the easiest way to get him to take it. Thanks
Hi Audry, I have never used slippery elm in elderberry syrup before, but I do put lots of other things in my elderberry syrup like astragalus root. I’m really not sure and don’t know if it would change the flavor much, if you give it a try I’d love to know how it turns out. I have seen slippery elm syrups online, so there has to be a way to make it 🙂 What about a tincture form? Maybe that would work too?
I’ve seen the tinctures but heard they don’t have a very good taste. The only recipes I can seem to find online for slippery elm syrups are on pet forums. Apparently it also works well for cats who have digestive issues. Lol. I think I’m just going to try simmering it with ginger and then adding some raw honey. Thanks
Oh no! That’s funny. That sounds like a good idea, especially with the ginger. I haven’t tried it in tincture form, but I know some tinctures don’t taste great. The flavors of some are fine, my youngest will usually down them in water, but my oldest will put up a fight over the taste, so I can understand about the taste aspect. Here’s one syrup that I found, but there is a lot more in it than just the slippery elm.
Thanks for posting this. My wife is allergic to corn and its byproducts so we do a lot of scratch-cooking and rarely eat processed foods or over-the-counter medicines. We love your cough drops. I added ground marshmallow root to it today to help with her cough.
Such a great idea to add the marshmallow root! I hope she feels better soon. Kudos to the both of you for doing so much from-scratch cooking! 🙂