making cake pops for the first time and my coating is cracking. I saw where to dip them in and tap them to get off the excess, when I do this the "top" of it starts to looked cracked and it never seems to drip off any. HELP!

Your coating may be too thick. I always add 2-3 tablespoons of crisco to mine and melt it w/ the candy coating.

i added some shortening, is it possible to add too much shortening?

Hmm I'm not sure. I add enough shortening so if I take a spoonful of the melted coating and it will pour from the spoon back into the bowl and not glob. I hope that makes sense.

now the candy melts in the bag are clumping at the tip when I lie it down for a sec. Any way to prevent that?

I went Crisco crazy when my candy was not thin enough for the first time, and turns out you can add too much..lol.. It tasted horrible!! I usually used Wilton's, because that's all I thought was around my area, without any problems. It melted great, but this summer, I could not get the excess off my pops for some reason. I was so frustrated, but then I found a shop that has Merckens and I highly recommend it if you can get some!

Also, when the tips start to harden, I turn hot water on in the sink and let the water run down off the tip and the heat from the metal will warm the candy back up. I also use a hotplate if I have a lot to do and I need to keep it warm for a little bit. The hotplates get pretty hot after having been on for awhile, so I cover it with a towel to cut back the heat level. Hope this helps you some!

thanks!