Tempering white chocolate doesn’t have to be difficult. But exactly what is it? White chocolate is cocoa butter with milk and sugars added. Some people argue it’s not chocolate at all because there is only cocoa butter, not actual cocoa in the candy. That’s up to you to decide.
One thing that is critical when making white chocolate. Don’t be fooled by “white chocolate morsels.” These are made with oils and not a smidge of cocoa butter. It is simply compound candy and doesn’t contain cocoa butter. It also usually has artificial flavoring. It’s basically hydrogenated oils, sugars (as are those little candy wafers) and often cheap flavoring. It’s not very good tasting to be honest. But if you want to learn how to melt fake white chocolate, check out this tutorial. It does serve a purpose, after all.
You’ll want to follow the chart below for a starting point as discussed in the post explaining why we temper chocolate. Are you ready? Let’s look at how to begin tempering white chocolate in the microwave.
Look for white chocolate with cocoa butter. Oil indicates it’s a fake white chocolate. 
Break into small chunks for quicker melting 
Since this is highly susceptible to burning, see if you can use half power on your microwave. 
When you get to this point stir a good 30 seconds before returning to microwave and check temperature 
I’ve burned a lot of white chocolate in the past so I don’t go up much past 100F (37C.) 
I also like to use the seeding method since I don’t go to high temperatures 
At first it looks like it won’t melt. Don’t be tempted to put it back in the microwave. 
It’s a nice shiny consistency now. 
I personally like to work with it at 86F 
Which is 30C. 
Again, I chose to make a crunch bar as I won’t waste any. 
Spread it out as thick or then as you like on parchment. 
Typically ready in as little as one hour as long as your house isn’t hot.
Troubleshooting
There are a few issues to be aware of when tempering white chocolate. It can burn and seize very easily. There are simple ways to avoid these issues. First, use shorter bursts of time in the microwave especially toward the end. Five seconds and stirring is much safer than 15 seconds and a ruined mess. Second, lower the power whenever possible on your microwave. It’s easier to control the temperature at half power than full. And finally, avoid water at all costs. I made it on the stovetop and the steam bath got into the bowl. It was instantly ruined. If these two scenarios happen to you, the chocolate can only be used for baking at this point and not for dipping or decorating. If it’s burnt, it’s inedible. Hopefully, reading this will help you avoid these issues. To show you a visual of what ruined white chocolate looks like, see the two photos below:
Burnt from overheated and not stirring enough 
Seized from water
If you don’t have a microwave, no worries! Just follow this video.
And this method is how to temper chocolate using the microwave! See how many options there are out there for making wonderful chocolate covered desserts?
Ingredients
- 8 oz (226g) white chocolate
Instructions
- In a microwave safe bowl, heat 3/4 of chocolate for 20 seconds and stir.
- Repeat this step until most of the chocolate is melted. Check the temperature. If you are close to 104F (40C) start heating in 5 second intervals, stirring between each cycle and rechecking temperature as it can heat quickly in the end stages and burn.
- Add in the remain chocolate. Continue to stir until the temperature drops to 86F (30C.) Your chocolate is now in temper and ready to use.
Thanks so much! I make chocolate truffles every Christmas, and this was the easiest experience I’ve ever had getting white chocolate into temper. It will definitely be my go-to method from now on!
Kristen, I am so pleased to hear this was the easiest experience for you in making the chocolate truffles! Now you can enjoy the process more and not have to worry about fighting the tempering process. Enjoy your truffles! I’m sure everyone will love them. 🙂
Thank you so much for this post! I tried 5 times yesterday to temper homemade white chocolate using everyone else’s method where you raise the temperature, bring it down, and then raise it again and called every single time. After all of that, last night I found your post and this morning was able to do it on the first attempt. It’s counter to what we’re taught- that it has to be cooked off and warmed back up, but it works wonderfully! Thank you!!
JeniLynn, I am so glad you found this post and finally tempered your white chocolate! Isn’t it amazing this method works so beautifully? You are right, it’s the opposite of how we were taught to temper and yet it works from white to milk to dark chocolates.