Why do white candy melts for coating cookies often set easily but feel waxier than real white chocolate?

Answer: They swap cocoa butter

They swap cocoa butter ✓ — Right. Many candy melts and compound coatings replace cocoa butter with cheaper or more convenient vegetable fats. Those fats can be engineered to set without the same tempering fuss, which is useful for dipping and decorating. But they do not copy cocoa butter's narrow melt near body temperature perfectly, so the mouthfeel can turn waxy. The shortcut is functional, not identical.

They use more milk fat — Milk fat can soften a dairy candy, so it is a plausible texture guess. But the big divide is not extra milk fat; it is whether the main coating fat is cocoa butter or a substitute vegetable fat. Real white chocolate must rely on cocoa butter, while compound coatings can use palm kernel, coconut, soy, or other fats. That swap changes melting behavior far more than adding a little dairy richness.

They pack in more sugar — Sugar level can affect sweetness and graininess, but it does not explain why candy melts can set easily while melting less like real white chocolate. Texture comes from fats forming a solid network and then melting at a particular temperature range. A sweeter real white chocolate would still behave like cocoa butter if its fat phase is cocoa butter. The label clue is usually the fat list, not the sugar line.