Homemade Candied Ginger Recipe
This homemade candied ginger chews recipe is great for settling a dizzy tummy—these chews are made with a few basic ingredients, and cook quickly and easily.
Have you ever had candied ginger chews? They are something you should always have on hand. Ginger chews are a great natural way to settle a dizzy tummy after you eat something that didn’t agree with you. They are even better for those who struggle with nausea or Vertigo.
What are Ginger Chews
Ginger root is both sweet and spicy—and these homemade candied ginger chews are a mixture of both. Definitely a little hot—but in a good way. They can be addictive, if you allow them to be (I keep mine in the very back of the pantry on a high shelf). Out of sight, out of mind? However, they are not something you will want to eat all the time since they are high in added sugars.
Ginger is a perennial plant that thrives in most parts of southern Asia, Nigeria and the Caribbean. The part of the plant commonly used is the rhizome (root). It is a wonderful aromatic root for helping alleviate nausea, motion sickness, sea sickness, morning sickness, indigestion and especially inflammation. It can also help with muscle pain.
Why Ginger Root?
Ginger root contains chromium, magnesium and zinc, all of which are key ingredients in maintaining healthy blood circulation. It has also been shown to ease the symptoms of asthma by lessening inflammation of the airways.
These homemade candied ginger chews are pretty easy to make. Most of the tools you’ll need are already in your kitchen. You just want to make sure you have a good candy thermometer, since those are meant for high heat cooking.
How to Make Candied Ginger Chews
These homemade candied ginger chews are great to settle a dizzy tummy—they are made with a few basic ingredients, and cook quickly and easily.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Equipment
- Candy thermometer
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
- 2½ cups water
- ½ cup packed shredded ginger root (peeling the root is optional, the peel is a good prebiotic and source of fiber)
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- ¼ cup honey
- ¾ cup organic cane sugar
Instructions
- Grate the ginger root in a bowl. Using a measuring cup pack it down to ½ cup.
- Add the ginger root to the 2½ cups water in a medium saucepan and set the temperature on the burner to medium–low.
- Let simmer for 20–30 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by half.
- Strain the ginger solids and reserve about 1¼ cups of the liquid.
- Grease a small glass (or glazed ceramic) dish (I used a 7 in × 4 in dish) generously with coconut oil (or any other vegetable oil that is mild in flavor). Lay parchment paper in the dish and grease the parchment generously as well.
- Pour the reserved ginger and liquid back into the saucepan and add the honey and sugar—stir well and bring to a rolling boil until the temperature reaches 250–266° F.
- Once the temperature starts to rise, keep an eye on the mixture—as the syrup gets thicker, the color will go darker and the bubbles smaller (see steps in photo below). Do not leave the pan unattended, as this syrup can burn in a matter of seconds.
- To test the syrup and determine if it is ready, fill a cup with cold water, dip a spoon into the syrup and drop a little of it into the water, grab the cooled glob of syrup using your fingers—it should neither be too hard nor too runny. The texture should resemble soft candy. This is called the “soft ball” stage of cooking sugar.
- Once you believe the syrup is just right (250–266° F should be perfect), turn off the burner and pour the syrup with the ginger solids into the greased dish.
- Allow the mixture to cool for 30 minutes or longer (we let ours cool a few hours).
- Pull the parchment out of the dish and lay the chews evenly on the counter. Using a sharp knife, cut into small, even pieces and wrap them in small cut squares of parchment paper (see finished chews photo below), twist the ends and store in an air tight sealed glass jar.
Note: Recipe adapted from Growing up Herbal (IG: @rebootedmom).
Ginger root has many beneficial properties discussed in much more detail on our post, ginger essential oil health and beauty benefits. It has almost limitless uses in food, health and beauty. And if you are an avid gardener, or like me you would like to be one, check out our post on how to grow ginger indoors as a houseplant or outdoors as part of an herb garden.
Source and image credits:
Rebooted Mom
How To Make Homemade Ginger Chews
https://www.rebootedmom.com/homemade-ginger-chews/
Growing Up Herbal
How To Make Deliciously Healthy Ginger Chews
http://www.growingupherbal.com/how-to-make-deliciously-healthy-ginger-chews/
on june 8, 2015