Nestle's Butterscotch Morsels change? Won't melt!

In the last six months, we've noticed a change in Nestle's butterscotch morsels.
They're not something we use every day, but they're essential for a couple of decadent treats: Peanut butter/butterscotch Rice Krispie Treats (literally that simple: melt 1/2C peanut butter and 1C morsels in micro then stir in 3C puffed rice cereal... if you don't believe me, recipe here), and Salted Nut Bars (recipe from The Baking Sheet, I think) which uses a topping of corn syrup, butter and morsels.

What we've seen is that the darn things do not like to melt, they really, really keep their shape. Last night, making the Nut Bars, even boiling in the corn syrup and butter mixture and with vigorous stirring, there were still noticeable lumps.

I understand that these items, like chocolate chips, are designed to keep their shape... but eventually they ought to give up the ghost and just melt.

Any chance someone here has seen a more melty morsel?

JoelF wrote:In the last six months, we've noticed a change in Nestle's butterscotch morsels.
They're not something we use every day, but they're essential for a couple of decadent treats: Peanut butter/butterscotch Rice Krispie Treats (literally that simple: melt 1/2C peanut butter and 1C morsels in micro then stir in 3C puffed rice cereal... if you don't believe me, recipe here), and Salted Nut Bars (recipe from The Baking Sheet, I think) which uses a topping of corn syrup, butter and morsels.

What we've seen is that the darn things do not like to melt, they really, really keep their shape. Last night, making the Nut Bars, even boiling in the corn syrup and butter mixture and with vigorous stirring, there were still noticeable lumps.

I understand that these items, like chocolate chips, are designed to keep their shape... but eventually they ought to give up the ghost and just melt.

Any chance someone here has seen a more melty morsel?

Is it possible your bag was old? I had a similar problem with a bag of Ghiradelli Milk Chocolate Chips that wouldn't melt and realized it was an old bag. I'd previously used half of the bag for something else and didn't remember there being a problem, so that's all I can chalk it up to.

Hmmm ... a few years ago I was trying to make a version of Tastykake Butterscotch Krimpets ... sorry, but Philadelphians would know how damn good these are! Anyway, I purchased the butterscotch morsels you speak of. For the recipe, you need to melt them for the frosting. Those mother f***ers would not melt ... well, sort of ... but far from all the way and far from what was needed for a smooth frosting. I haven't tried the recipe again ... just loaded up on Tastycake Butterscotch Krimpets from Philly's Best. Thanks for reminding me of angrier days.

chgoeditor wrote:Is it possible your bag was old? I had a similar problem with a bag of Ghiradelli Milk Chocolate Chips that wouldn't melt and realized it was an old bag. I'd previously used half of the bag for something else and didn't remember there being a problem, so that's all I can chalk it up to.

Bag was just bought this week... although I don't know how long it sat on the store shelf.

BR wrote:Hmmm ... a few years ago I was trying to make a version of Tastykake Butterscotch Krimpets ... sorry, but Philadelphians would know how damn good these are!

I grew up in Jersey...I know what you're talking about. If my brother & I behaved while my Mom did the weekly grocery shopping, we'd get to split a pack of Butterscotch or Jelly Krimpets. Mmm...

Once you have tried making your own butterscotch, you will know how truly nasty those artificially flavored bits are.

If you need it to be melted, why not start with the liquid version anyway?

(Now all I need is to know how to convert the homemade stuff into some sort of chip-like form, so I can bake some Oatmeal Scotchies.)

mamagotcha wrote:Once you have tried making your own butterscotch, you will know how truly nasty those artificially flavored bits are.

If you need it to be melted, why not start with the liquid version anyway?

(Now all I need is to know how to convert the homemade stuff into some sort of chip-like form, so I can bake some Oatmeal Scotchies.)

I totally agree with you with respect to the flavor of those chips ... something wasn't quite right ... even for TK Butterscotch Krimpets.

mamagotcha wrote:Once you have tried making your own butterscotch, you will know how truly nasty those artificially flavored bits are.

If you need it to be melted, why not start with the liquid version anyway?

(Now all I need is to know how to convert the homemade stuff into some sort of chip-like form, so I can bake some Oatmeal Scotchies.)

Good question. For the Rice Krispie Treats, it's a convenience factor, but for the salted nut bars, Sue should come up with a more "pure" recipe. It'll be tougher matching the texture of the final topping, but I'm sure the failures will still be delicious.

As someone who has several bags of old chips lurking in the depths of a cabinet-why would age make it hard for the chips to melt?

Not butterscotch, but tonight I was making this recipe, and the white chocolate chips would. not. melt. It was very strange - they managed to coalesce into a lump, but would not get "melty," and were hence unspreadable. I have never seen this happen before. They were Aldi brand, if it matters.

I remembered this thread when I ran across this recipe for homemade butterscotch chips. I haven't made it yet... but I'm planning to do so in the very near future, and will report back. But since autumn has arrived, I figured there might be a few other folks hankerin' for oatmeal scotchies...

Homemade butterscotch chips

This is an interesting thread. I just tried to melt butter scotch chips a couple days ago....I had to add butter to get them to melt, and then the mixture was all grainy.

I remembered this thread when I ran across this recipe for homemade butterscotch chips. I haven't made it yet... but I'm planning to do so in the very near future, and will report back. But since autumn has arrived, I figured there might be a few other folks hankerin' for oatmeal scotchies...

Homemade butterscotch chips

Don't bother. See the comments following the recipe:

"This made some awesome butterscotch sauce, but certainly not chips. And since there is no such thing as unsweetened white chocolate, I used half white baking chocolate and half cocoa butter. The ratio would totally have to change to get to any sort of chip forming mixture. You'd do better to add butterscotch flavoring to white chocolate and make chips that way."

"where am I to find this mythical unsweetened white baking chocolate? is there a brand you know of? I have only ever seen white baking chocolate made with sugar in it."

Hi,

I thought of this post when I was making chocolate mousse. Previously I had used Nestle semi sweet morsels for mousse. Not this time despite adding some butter and cream hoping to get it to liquid stage.

I ended up using baking chocolate, which needed more sugar than I used. It was good enough, though not great.

Regards,