How Do You Thin Out Candy Melts?

In years past, if you wanted cake pops in all the colors of the rainbow, you mixed coconut oil into your chocolate chips to slowly temper them (or, in other words, melt the chocolate down) before adding food coloring. To achieve vibrant colors, you had to use white chocolate. Once candy melts came along, though, achieving vivid candy colors became easier than ever.

Candy melts are a combination of sugar, vegetable oils, milk, color, and flavoring. Most people don't think they taste like anything other than milk, but they make the process of dipping candies, pretzels, cookies, and pretty much anything else exponentially easier. But nothing is foolproof, so what do you do when your melted candy melts are still too thick?

One option is to toss in some unmelted candy melts. If candy melts are heated over 90 degrees Fahrenheit, their consistency and thickness become uneven. If this is the issue, adding some cool or room-temperature candy melts into the mixture should bring the temperature down. Other options include adding a teaspoon of oil while stirring, but be careful, as too much can make the mixture less shiny or keep it from hardening. You can also use vegetable shortening for this task or even refined coconut oil. Paramount crystals, or solid oil flakes, are also a great option.

There may be other reasons why you need to thin out your candy melts, like poor quality. While you may feel like the bag that costs $5 is a steal, unless it's a brand you've tried before, be wary. To make sure your melts turn out best, stick with a reputable brand, such as Wilton or Ghirardelli.

Another reason your candy melts might not be cooperating is inadequate storage. If you happen to live in a particularly humid environment, your candy melts may suffer the longer they're stored in a cupboard or drawer. For best results, store them in an air-tight container, keep them in a cool area, and use them within a few months of purchase.

So perhaps you bought some chocolate-flavored candy melts and now you want to color them. In that case, be careful which kind of food coloring you use. If you use a water-based food coloring and mix it with the candy melts, the mixture will become stiff and thick. Always check the ingredients to make sure you're using an oil-based color.