I made my first batch of cake pops this weekend, and although they were an overall success, i could not get the candy melts to thin out! They were too thick to begin with, and i read somewhere that adding a bit of oil will help to thin it out, however i still found it to be too thick to 'dip' my cake pops in and they did look a bit messy due to this. I REALLY want to be able to get a smooth, even coat on the cake pops for decorating, but i'm not sure how to go about this.
The candy melts weren't old as far as i know, i bought them recently, and i heated them in the microwave on defrost, stirring every 30 seconds, so i don't believe i overheated them.
I've heard paramount crystals are the best, but they are not available anywhere in my area and i don't want to pay $10 for shipping for something that only cost me $2! So i really need the best alternative to them. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

The best thing to use is shortening. I always add at least 2 teaspoonfuls to red candy melts - - something about the color makes it difficult.

Paramount crystals are simply little flakes of parafin, which you can get anywhere that has canning supplies. Just grate a block of parafin and voila' - you have "crystals". HTH

I had the same issue, and I almost gave up on cake pops all together. A friend told me to add a little bit of crisco into the melted candy melts while they were still hot and stir it in until smooth. Worked like a charm. I'd say about 1tbs per 1/2 bag of candy melts.

Thanks for asking this question. I'm definitely going to try adding a little crisco, so thanks to you jschoenholtz too! I want to make some carrot shaped cake balls on a stick for Easter and those candy melts are always gloppy and frustrating to me! Theresa

Wilton candy melts suck. I say this a lot when answering posts about "my candy melts won't thin out!". Crisco is your best bet for now, but for future work, you'll probably need to invest in Paramount Crystals and higher quality candy melts such as Merckens or Guittard A'Peels.

Be sure you order the right product, NOT real chocolate that has to be tempered.

Here's a quick explanation from this website (p.s. I know nothing about this website, just liked the explanation)
http://www.anoccasionalchocolate.com/choosing-type-of-chocolate.html
"Chocolate companies created confectioner's coating so that we can avoid tempering real chocolate. In creating confectioner's coating, the cocoa butter was removed from the chocolate and palm kernel oil was added. The product looks just like real chocolate, but it cannot be sold with a chocolate label because it doesn't contain cocoa butter. Many companies make confectioner's chocolate taste really wonderful."

Here's a source with both products, but you can do a search to get the best prices for your needs.
Paramount Crystals: https://www.slice-heaven.com/store/show/76-320V
Merckens: https://www.slice-heaven.com/store/search

Hi!

I just made cupcake pops for the first time last weekend. They came out great. The ratio I used was as follows- 1 bag of melts and 4.5 tbs of Crisco. Give it a try, it worked great!!!

Mine were too thick but then I microwaved them a bit longer and they were perfect. Try that or keeping them over a hot water bath (double boiler)

I made 13 dozen cake pops last week. The ones that worked best were the ones I dipped in almond bark - - I prefer that over candy melts, but I don't like to color it. If I need different colors, I'll use candy melts. And I used leah_s's idea and didn't put them back in the fridge after I put the sticks in. I dipped them at room temperature and not one of them cracked!

Awesome! Thanks so much for all the replies! I will definitely be trying out the crisco when i make another batch of cake pops this afternoon!

I used to use Wilton Candy melts, I had maybe 2 times where my cake pops came out right, after that, it just never worked, it was always to thick, even when I added shortening, so now, I just use Merken's, never had a problem with this brand.

HTH

Thanks for the great suggestions. I'm about to attempt my first batch of cake pops and all I have is wilton candy melts.

I had this exact same problem with the red candy melts this weekend, I'll definitely try adding shortening next time!

Had the same problem today I've never tried the shortening trick, but I did what everyone said and it works like a charm!

AYou should try to buy Wilton's ez-thin to thin out the chocolate and give it a nice finish . :D

joining the discussion late... but what is crisco exactly??? Im from South Africa and cant get candy melts to thin out too... we don't have crisco here. what can i use as a substitute. oil didn't work. have 2 bags of candy melts begging to be used.

@verlynn Crisco is a vegetable shortening.