Rose Petal Peppermint Candy Drops

These DIY rose & peppermint candy drops are made with fresh roses & lemon slices. They’re perfect for soothing a sore throat or to just enjoy as a sweet treat!

Rose Petal Peppermint Drops - These DIY drops are perfect for soothing a sore or itchy throat or just to enjoy as a sweet treat!

These yummy peppermint drops were inspired by a recipe for Herbal Candy Drops contained in A Kid’s Herb Book, written by Lesley Tierra.

It’s an enchanting tome filled with facts, folklore, ideas & recipes aimed at introducing children to the wonderful world of herbs. I highly recommend it (for grownups too!)

I took their basic recipe and used rose petal & lemon infused water instead of the herbal tea called for.

Roses have cooling, anti-inflammatory properties and can also be helpful in treating colds and flu, making these perfect for soothing sore throats.

While I make many of my candies without refined sugar, such as Honey & Lemon Candy Drops, I used sugar to make these, but a reduced amount from the original recipe.

Lemon slices, rose petals layered in a jar to make tea for candy drops

How to Make Rose Petal Peppermint Drops

  • fresh roses
  • one lemon, sliced thinly
  • boiling water
  • 1 1/2 cups of sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract (you can also use other flavors such as lemon)
  1. Prepare the infusion by layering thin slices of lemon and fresh rose petals in a jar or heat proof measuring cup until you reach near the top.
  2. Pour boiling water over the layers and immediately top with a saucer to keep in all of the rosy/lemon vapors.
  3. Let this steep for about 30 minutes then strain. Depending on the color of petals used, it will have turned a lovely pinkish color as shown in the photo above.
  4. Measure out 1 cup of rose-lemon water and put in a large deep pot (you will need the extra room to keep the candy from boiling over.)
  5. Add 1 1/2 cups of sugar and stir until dissolved.
  6. Boil this mixture over medium to medium-high heat, without stirring, until it reaches 300-310 degrees Fahrenheit.
  7. Periodically wipe down the insides with a pastry brush and water or a dampened rag to prevent crystallization from occurring.
pour hot candy into powdered sugar molds

How to Mold the Rose Petal Peppermint Drops

Here is where the book & I differ. They say to let the mixture cool until 110 degrees then stir in the peppermint extract and pour 1/4 teaspoon sized drops onto a well buttered board or cookie sheet.

I find it easier to make these in powdered sugar molds. Fill a large cookie sheet or cake pan with powdered sugar. Using something small, like your peppermint extract top, make tiny indentations in the sugar.

After removing from the heat, stir in your peppermint extract then pour the hot mixture into the powder sugar forms and allow to harden. (Use a heat proof measuring cup with a spout for ease of pouring.)

You can either gently wipe off the powdered sugar (tedious, but pretty!) or you can flip the candies over so that the entire drop is coated. My kids like that way best and I find it prevents sticking together.

Since my house stays warmer than average, I keep these single layered between pieces of wax paper in the refrigerator, or freezer for longer term storage.

rose petal peppermint drops in a jar with fresh roses

Recipe Variations

You can vary the type of extract depending on the flavor you desire. You can also substitute your favorite herbal tea or a different infusion, such as ginger root, instead of rose petals.

You don’t have to use lemon slices, you could use oranges or omit them completely. It’s a very flexible recipe, so don’t feel locked into just one flavor!

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22 Comments

  1. what a neat idea!! I’ll try it as soon as we have roses :)
    have you tried without the peppermint?

    1. Yes, you can make them plain too. If you use the rose/lemon infusion, it tastes a tiny bit… flowery without the extract, I thought. I like how the peppermint balances out the sweetness, but I made a batch with lemon extract and it was very pleasant too, in a milder way. :)

    1. I found the powdered sugar mold idea online; it’s been a lifesaver since all of my candy molds have disappeared! :)

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  3. I LOVE how you did that with the powdered sugar!!!
    OK… I just added your blog to my blog list! I am totally loving it!
    :-)

  4. Aw thanks! I’ve liked your facebook page two times I love your blog so much. :) (via my Nerdy Farm Wife page & my personal page) Good stuff! :)

  5. I too thought the powdered sugar mold was a fantastic idea! I have a few glass cookie stamps that might work in putting a design on one side. Oddly enough, the cookie stamp I use the most is the bottom of the plunger from my Cuisinart. It’s a nice ribbed multi-circular design that makes really pretty sugar cookies and peanut butter cookies. I wonder if the powdered sugar would hold the design….

    thanks for posting this recipe. I had in mind to make some honey cough drops for the winter. Have you ever tried storing candy drops in jars sealed with a FoodSaver? I’d think that would keep the moisture out but not sure if that would be enough to keep them from sticking together, even WITH the powdered sugar.

    1. Hi Ilene! I haven’t tried FoodSaver jars for storage – it might work! But, I do find with regular storage that over time they will start to stick together, even with the powdered sugar. It’s more one of those things we try to consume sooner than later. I’ve found that the Honey Candy ( https://thenerdyfarmwife.com/honey-lemon-sore-throat-candy-drops/ ) stores a lot better!

      I haven’t experimented outside of the small circular shapes in powered sugar molds plus a few lollipop attempts, but your ideas sound great! It would definitely make for a pretty candy if it turns out to work as well in practice as in theory! :)

  6. I am loving your site and can’t wait to try some of your recipes!! I grew up on an organic farm and was raised with old fashioned, herbal remedies. I always love finding new things to try with my plants! Do you find any certain type of rose to work better than others for your home remedies? At the moment, I only a handful of varieties of hybrid tea roses, but I would love to try these candies with them.

      1. Oh how wonderful to grow up on an organic farm like that! :) I tend to use whatever is blooming. My Foxy Pavement roses bloom sporadically all summer, so they end up being the dominant rose in most of my projects. I have a very few dark red ones that bloom each year, I save those for ones that I want a color punch (like rose petal vinegar) but otherwise, I have no real favorites. Well, for food items like this, I tend towards liking the lesser scented roses (because I don’t want to feel like I’m actually munching on rose petals.) :) Have fun experimenting!

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  9. I love the recipe, but I don’t have any fresh roses, can I use store bought roses or dried roses? If not I’m going to plant a rose bush this spring.

    1. Hi Lucy, store bought roses usually are full of pesticides that aren’t safe for human consumption. You can use organic dried rose petals from a trusted source such as mountainroseherbs if you don’t want to wait for fresh, homegrown petals!

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