7 Simple Ways to Thin Candy Melts

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Candy melts are one of my all-time favorite creations in the world of candy and chocolate making.

You can easily whip up tasty and colorful coats for all sorts of delicious treats, kicking the taste and presentation to a whole new level!

But sometimes you start using your candy melts, only to find they’re too thick for smooth drizzling or dipping.

Luckily, you can fix this problem in no time with the help of shortening, butter, oil, paramount crystals, lard, white chocolate, or EZ Thin.

Keep reading for 7 simple tips and tricks to give your candy melts perfect consistency every time!

Uses for Candy Melts

Before we get into thinning candy melts, I’d like to go through all the uses for candy melts to give you an idea of just how versatile this bad boy is!

On top of the candy melts’ list of applications is, of course, making chocolate lollipops. 

You can find many different lollipop molds online and in stores. I love this one, but you can bet there’s a pattern for every occasion you can think of!

From there, all you need to do is melt your favorite color candy melts, pour them into the lollipop molds, add a stick, and you’re good to go! 

• Pro tip: Ditch the stick and you end up with customized chocolates instead!

Another popular use for candy melts is creating a chocolate coating on pretty much anything!

From dip cake pops and cookies to pretzel sticks and fruit, you can give your favorite treat an extra layer of chocolatey deliciousness with a dip in candy melts.

Not to mention, candy melts come already colored so you don’t even need to worry about adding food coloring for decoration! Just buy candy melts in your preferred shade to match the theme of your event.

Why Thin Candy Melts

When I first got into candy and chocolate making, I often wondered why I couldn’t simply melt the candy melts and start dipping or pouring the chocolate into molds right away.

What makes the extra step of thinning necessary?

I soon discovered that the consistency of melted candy melts usually needs some extra work.

If you leave it with its starting consistency, it can be hard to dip your treats and the resulting coat would be either super thick or easily cracked. 

Also, reheating the candy melts isn’t the best idea as you may burn the chocolate.

By thinning out the hot melted candy melts, you can achieve a much better consistency that’s easier to work with and gives coatings free of lumps or bumps.

How to Thin Candy Melts

Now is the time we take a look at the best ways to thin candy melts!

1 – Store Bought Thinning Aid

Several brands noticed the problem of candy melts having a thick consistency, so they developed “thinning aids” that you can buy at the same places you purchase candy melts.

Thinning aids, like EZ Thin from Wilton, are made with a combination of oils (each brand’s formula is slightly different). 

Typically, you add two tablespoons of the thinning aid to one 12 oz bag of candy melts after melting them according to the directions.

Don’t worry, if you already bought your candy melts and don’t want to make another trip to the store, try one of the next solutions!

2 – Shortening

A go-to method for many people when it comes to thinning out candy melts is shortening. This is also a food product that you probably already have at home, making it a convenient option.

After melting the candy melts according to the directions, add a teaspoon of shortening and stir it into the melted chocolate. 

Keep adding one teaspoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency.

Keep in mind that you still want the candy melt mix to be thick enough to coat the food you are dipping. 

Avoid adding too much shortening at one go as it can turn out too thin and slip right off your treats. Add a little shortening and then do a “practice dip” to test the consistency.

3 – Paramount Crystals

Paramount Crystals are another product that’s specifically designed to help with thinning out melted chocolate, carob, or candy melts.

Paramount crystals are made with hydrogenated palm kernel oil, but it’s not in a liquid form as you may expect. Instead, it’s packaged as tiny crystals that seem dry but will instantly melt when added to your hot candy melts.

Many people prefer this way of thinning because the crystals produce a fantastic texture after hardening. 

While shortening can make the hardened candy melts a little too soft (since shortening is soft at room temperature naturally), paramount crystals are naturally a hard solid at room temp meaning the candy melts will become nice and crisp as well!

4 – Cocoa Butter

Chocolate is made with cocoa butter, which is what gives it that smooth texture as it melts in your mouth.

Adding pure cocoa butter to hot, melted candy melts will instantly turn the mixture much thinner and smoother.

Using cocoa butter also allows you to stick to the traditional ingredients in candy melts, so you don’t stray too far from their chocolate origin!

A downside of using cocoa butter, however, is that it can be more expensive than other methods of thinning candy melts.

5 – Oils

Adding a half teaspoon of oil can be all you need to thin candy melts, but only use this trick when all else fails. 

Most oils are liquid at room temperature, which means your candy melts may not harden as firm as you would like. Although it’ll definitely make the candy melts easier to work with!

Coconut oil is a great option since it’s solid at room temperature (as long as the room is 75 degrees or cooler!) 

But coconut oil will add a slight coconut flavor, so keep that in mind when stirring it into your candy melts.

Alternatively, you can use vegetable or canola oil. These have no noticeable taste; just be sure to add ½ teaspoon at a time to avoid overpowering the mixture.

6 – Lard

This is a 100% animal-based fat product that can make your candy melts runnier. It’s powerful and may have a flavor to it, so be sure to use a tiny bit at a time!

7 – White chocolate 

If you don’t have butter, lard, or oil in your kitchen, some white chocolate can get the job done!

The fat content in white chocolate is what’s going to help you, but you’ll need to use more of the white chocolate compared to butter or oil to get a similar effect.

Keep in mind that this method will lighten the color of the melts, so a few extra drops of food coloring may be necessary.

Final Thoughts

While all of these methods can help you thin candy melts to perfect consistency, you may find that you’re satisfied with one option more than the other.

Whenever you’re planning on using candy melts, be sure to have one of these thinning agents on hand. They can be lifesavers! Just imagine dipping those cake pops in a flawlessly textured candy melt mix every time!

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