Candy Melts substitute

Best substitute

Almond bark, confectionery coating or melting wafers

Use the same amount by weight as the candy melts you are replacing

Best for cake pops

Close match

The honest answer is that real chocolate does the same job better, but only if you temper it. If you do not want to temper, melt chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon of refined coconut oil or shortening per cup, which thins the coating for dipping but sets softer and needs to be kept cool. Almond bark and any product labelled confectionery coating or melting wafers is the same thing as candy melts and swaps 1:1. For colour, use white chocolate with oil-based candy colouring only, never water-based gel.

Other candy melts substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Tempered real chocolate
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
This is the genuine equivalent and it tastes far better.
What changes
Tempering means bringing the cocoa butter into the crystal structure that makes chocolate hard, glossy and snappy at room temperature. Melt two-thirds of your chopped chocolate to about 115F, take it off the heat, stir in the remaining third, and keep stirring until it cools to 88 to 90F for dark or 86 to 88F for milk and white.
Best for
cake pops, dipped fruit, molds, candy shells, professional finish
The result is better in every way except convenience: real chocolate flavour, a clean snap, a shine candy melts cannot match. The catch is that it is genuinely fussy, and it must stay in that narrow temperature window while you work, so warm it a few seconds at a time as it drifts down.
3Chocolate chips plus refined coconut oil or shortening
Different texture
Use 1 tbsp oil or shortening for every 1 cup chips
The no-tempering shortcut most people actually use.
What changes
The added fat thins the melted chocolate so it flows off a cake pop in a smooth coat instead of sitting in a thick blob.
Best for
cake pops, dipped pretzels, drizzles, bark, quick projects
Be clear about the trade-off: added oil lowers the melting point, so this coating sets soft and slightly tacky at room temperature, dulls rather than shines, and melts on your fingers. Chill the finished items to set them, and keep them cool until they are eaten. Use refined coconut oil, not virgin, unless you want a coconut flavour.
4White chocolate with oil-based candy colouring
Close match
Use the same amount by weight, colouring a few drops at a time
The route to coloured coatings without candy melts.
What changes
White chocolate is a blank canvas, and oil-based colouring blends in without breaking the chocolate.
Best for
coloured coatings, themed cake pops, decorations, drizzles
This is where beginners ruin a whole bowl. Water-based gel or liquid food colouring makes melted chocolate or coating seize instantly into a stiff, grainy mass, and there is no rescuing it. Only oil-based or powdered candy colours work. White chocolate also scorches easily, so melt it at 50% power in 15-second bursts.
5Royal icing
Taste and texture differ
not a weight swap; make enough to coat by eye
Egg white or meringue powder whisked with powdered sugar and a little water.
What changes
It dries hard at room temperature, takes any colour, and needs no fat and no temperature control at all.
Best for
cookie decorating, hard decorative shells, gluing pieces together, colour work
It is not chocolate and does not taste remotely like it: royal icing is pure sweetness with a slightly brittle, papery bite. Where it beats every chocolate option is reliability, because it takes water-based colour happily and dries rock hard. Use it when the look matters more than the flavour.
6There is no substitute for it: a room-temperature coating that must survive a party
Different texture
If your cake pops or dipped pretzels have to sit on a table for three hours in a warm room, only tempered chocolate or a real compound coating will hold.
What changes
Chocolate loosened with oil will soften and smudge, and that is not a technique problem, it is physics.
Best for
knowing when to change plans
The least-bad option without tempering is chocolate chips with the smallest amount of fat you can get away with, no more than 2 teaspoons per cup, set in the fridge and served cold from a cooler or a chilled platter. Expect fingerprints. Any shop that sells cake decorating supplies will have melting wafers, and that trip is usually the right call.

What is Candy Melts?

Candy Melts is Candy melts are a confectionery coating made from sugar, milk solids and vegetable or palm kernel fat instead of cocoa butter, sold as melting wafers, candy coating or compound chocolate, and designed to set hard and glossy without tempering.

Cooking tips

Never add water, milk, butter or water-based food colouring to melted candy coating or chocolate. All of them make it seize into a stiff dull paste in seconds. To thin a coating, use a neutral oil, refined coconut oil, shortening, cocoa butter or the paraffin-free flakes sold as paramount crystals.
The reason a homemade coating stays tacky is almost always too much added fat, or untempered chocolate. Cocoa butter left untempered sets in soft unstable crystals, so it stays slightly greasy and streaky no matter how long you wait.
Melt everything low. Candy melts scorch above about 110F and thicken into a grainy sludge that cannot be recovered. Microwave at 50% power in 20-second bursts, stirring between each, and stop while a few unmelted pieces remain so residual heat finishes the job.
For dipping cake pops, chill the pops until firm but not frozen. A frozen pop sweats as it warms and the moisture makes the coating crack or slide off in sheets.
Tap the excess off rather than scraping it. Hold the dipped item over the bowl and tap the stick or your wrist gently, which leaves a thin even shell; scraping the coating against the rim pulls it into a lopsided ridge that then sets that way.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use chocolate chips instead of candy melts?

Yes, with a caveat. Melted chips are too thick to coat evenly, so thin them with 1 tablespoon of refined coconut oil or shortening per cup. The coating tastes much better than candy melts but sets softer and melts on your fingers, so chill it to set and keep the finished items cool.

Why is my chocolate coating not hardening?

Either you added too much oil, which lowers the melting point below room temperature, or the chocolate was never tempered, so the cocoa butter set in soft unstable crystals. Refrigerating will firm it enough to handle, but it will soften again once it warms up.

Are candy melts the same as white chocolate?

No. White chocolate is made with cocoa butter, which is why it needs tempering to set hard and shiny. Candy melts use vegetable or palm kernel fat instead, which sets firm on its own. That is the whole reason candy melts exist, and it is also why they taste waxier.

Can I just leave the coating off?

For cake pops, no, because the shell is what holds the ball on the stick and keeps it from drying out. For dipped pretzels or fruit it is purely decorative and you can skip it. A thin layer of royal icing is a reasonable middle ground if you need something to set hard.

How do I colour melted chocolate without candy melts?

Use oil-based candy colouring or powdered food colour stirred into melted white chocolate, adding a few drops at a time. Water-based gel and liquid colours will seize the chocolate immediately and cannot be fixed.

Related substitutes

More baking substitutes

Candy Melts substitute

Other candy melts substitutes

2Tempered real chocolate

3Chocolate chips plus refined coconut oil or shortening

4White chocolate with oil-based candy colouring

5Royal icing

6There is no substitute for it: a room-temperature coating that must survive a party