Step inside a shop, and you can almost hear the sugar singing. Each recipe is a family story folded into caramel and chocolate.
These 13 Indiana candy makers have been tinkering, tasting, and perfecting for decades.
Expect gooey caramels, buttercrisp toffees, and jellybeans that still snap the way they did in your grandparents’ day.This list is a love letter to hands that stir at dawn and to wrappers tied by cheerful old-timers. Maps, road trips, and sticky fingers are encouraged.
Bring a forgiving waistband and an open mind, every bite tells a small-town tale. Ready to follow the sugar trail? Pick a town, pick a flavor, and let the candies do the convincing.
Your sweet tooth just found its next obsession.
Schimpff’s Confectionery
Open the door and you are greeted by cinnamon that seems to sparkle in the air. Schimpff’s is a living timeline, with copper kettles clanking and a marble table where candy makers stretch fire-red ribbons into Red Hots.
You can lean close and catch the moment sugar goes from clear to gem-bright, then watch it snap into tidy pieces that wink in the light.
Their Modjeskas feel like a soft promise, caramel draped over marshmallow so tender it almost sighs. Ask for a peek at the candy museum and you will find tins, tools, and stories that make every bite feel earned.
The clerks talk about batches like old friends, and you realize you are tasting a family diary written in sugar.
Hard candy fish bob in glass jars like tiny stained-glass minnows, perfect for slipping into pockets before a riverfront stroll. The shop keeps time without feeling stuck, letting tradition and theater share the same counter.
If you crave a keepsake, snag a bag of Red Hots and a Modjeska or two, then let the heat and sweetness argue lovingly on your tongue.
You will leave with red fingertips, a grin, and a plan to return before the next batch cools. This place does not just sell candy.
It stages a daily encore.
Address: 347 Spring St, Jeffersonville
Abbott’s Candies
At Abbott’s, time slows to the pace of caramel finding its gloss. You can hear the hush of sugar thickening, then the careful thud of a knife as squares fall into neat, butter-scented rows.
Each piece gives a soft resistance, a promise of chew that lands somewhere between a hug and a secret.
Their caramels span classics like vanilla and sea salt to gentle surprises like maple that tastes like Saturday mornings. The staff will steer you toward a mix, because choosing one flavor feels like choosing a favorite season.
Wraps twist with a faint crackle, and you tuck extras away knowing future-you will be grateful.
There is affection in the textures here, the way a corner slightly rounds, the way a ribbon of chocolate sets with a satin sheen. You watch trays emerge like polished bronze, understand that the recipe is less written than remembered.
Ask about their history and you will get names, winters, and batches survived.
Before you go, let a warm caramel sit on your tongue without chewing, just breathing while it melts into browned-butter music. The shop smells like family reunions and fresh notebooks.
On Walnut Street, sweetness is not loud. It is steady, decades-deep, and gracious.
Address: 48 E Walnut St, Hagerstown
Albanese Confectionery (Factory Store)
Walk into Albanese and the world turns glossy and jewel-toned. The gummy bears look like tiny stained glass windows, each bounce promising a burst of fruit that actually tastes like the fruit.
You grab a scoop, then another, suddenly negotiating with yourself like it is a perfectly normal thing to compare tart cherry against mango.
There are butterflies, rings, worms, and chocolate-covered pretzels that crunch like applause. The factory hum sits just beyond the retail floor, hinting at a vast choreography of pectin, flavor oils, and shine.
Ask for a sample and you will likely get a grin plus a handful that proves why these bears have fans across states.
Texture is the victory here, a springy chew that gives and returns without sticking. Flavors show up bright and clean, never syrupy, like fruit told the truth.
You can build a custom mix for a road trip, then realize you built enough for two.
It is playful, yes, but not careless. The bins are immaculate, the batches precise, and the staff oddly proud of a perfect pineapple note.
When sunlight hits a scoop, the gummies glow like a candy mosaic. You will leave with a bag that rustles like party confetti and the giddy sense that moderation can wait until Monday.
Address: 5441 E Lincoln Hwy, Merrillville
DeBrand Fine Chocolates
DeBrand whispers luxury before you even taste anything. Bonbons sit like jewels in velvet-lined displays, each shell a tiny mirror of tempered chocolate.
Pick a passion fruit caramel or a raspberry ganache and you will find the flavors layered with confidence and restraint.
The shop feels like a gallery, but the staff melts the hush with warm suggestions. They will describe origin chocolates the way sommeliers talk about vineyards, pointing out spice trails and citrus edges.
You nod, take a bite, and the snap yields to silk, then to a slow, articulate finish that lingers like good conversation.
Seasonal boxes arrive dressed for occasions without shouting. There is a macadamia creation that leaves a buttery echo, and a dark bar that tastes like rain on warm pavement.
If you love detail, ask about their tempering curves and watch pride light the room.
Fort Wayne is lucky, but so are you when you tuck a slate-gray box into your bag. Save one truffle for late night, lights low, maybe music soft.
These chocolates reward attention, and they pay it back with grace. Elegance here is not stiff.
It is generous, precise, and meant to be shared bite by thoughtful bite.
Address: 10105 Auburn Park Dr, Fort Wayne
Olympia Candy Kitchen
Olympia feels like a postcard come to life, complete with a soda fountain that still believes in frothy peaks. The candy case gleams with turtles thick as skipping stones and creams piped in proud swirls.
You order a phosphate or a sundae and let the clink of spoons soundtrack the afternoon.
The chocolates lean generous, with pecans that crunch like a friendly handshake. Caramel holds its shape, then melts the instant you smile.
If you ask about a favorite, the staff might point you to a maple nut cream that tastes like sweater weather and porch stories.
History hums under the tiles, but there is nothing dusty about it. The rhythm here is community, the steady parade of neighbors waving with to-go boxes.
You can feel the calibration of decades in the way every piece sets, in the confidence of their milk chocolate shells.
Before leaving, grab a mixed box for the road and a cherry soda for now. Light filters through the front windows like kindness.
On Main Street, tradition is not a display. It is daily practice, sweetened one turtle at a time.
Address: 136 N Main St, Goshen
McCord Candies
McCord Candies wears stripes with pride, from candy canes to peppermint sticks laid out like little barber poles. If you time it right, you can watch the pull, when molten sugar folds and traps air until it turns pearly and strong.
The snap is clean and the mint wakes you like crisp winter air.
The shop looks Victorian without feeling stuffy, walnut cases lined with creams and clusters that have a cheerful homemade tilt. Caramel apples shine like red planets in a sweet orbit.
You can taste the rhythm of decades in small details, like the way ribbon candy curves without cracking.
There is playful practicality here. Students pop in for exam bribes, grandparents for tradition, and everyone finds something that tells a story.
Try the chocolate-dipped sticks if you want balance, cool mint under a friendly milk chocolate blanket.
Do not rush. Watch a batch cool while street sounds float in from Main.
A bag of striped joy rides well in the car, and a box of creams keeps friendships warm. McCord proves that simple done right is not simple at all.
It is experience, muscle memory, and a steady hand guiding sugar into delight.
Address: 536 Main St, Lafayette
Martinsville Candy Kitchen
Martinsville Candy Kitchen turns holiday magic into a year-round craft. Through the window you can watch sugar change states, clear to opaque, then into stripes that bend like music.
The cane hook on the wall gleams, an anchor to generations who learned these moves by feel.
They lean into tradition, but they also play. One batch might become classic peppermint, the next a sunny lemon that tastes like front porch laughter.
When the pullers twist color into place, the air smells like a happy memory you forgot you still had.
Beyond canes, there are creams with old-soul fillings and caramels that hold a square corner like a secret handshake. The staff offers sips of lore between sales, telling you how weather nudges a batch and why patience wins.
You nod and let time slow, content to stand and watch craft unfold.
Take home a bundle of canes for gifting and a paper sack of misfit curls for snacking. They are the crunchy punchlines to the shop’s careful work.
On Main Street, sweetness is communal. You taste it, sure, but you also hear it in the bell over the door and the thank-yous folded into every twist.
Address: 46 N Main St, Martinsville
Donaldson’s Finer Chocolates
Donaldson’s makes chocolate that feels composed, like a well-played piano piece. The shells break with a polite snap, revealing centers that keep their promises.
Vanilla creams taste like vanilla, not perfume, and the caramels find that golden middle between stretch and dissolve.
You will notice restraint here. Decorations are confident but not fussy, a single stripe speaking louder than glitter.
Ask for a mixed box and the staff will assemble it as if they are curating a playlist, balancing highs, lows, and the encore you did not know you needed.
Hazelnut clusters pack an honest crunch, and the dark chocolate carries a calm bitterness that leaves room for warmth. There is pride in the temper, a gleam you can see across the case.
If you like precision, this shop will quietly thrill you.
Take a box to the car and eat one piece with the engine off, just listening to the wrapper settle. That is the mood here, patient and rewarding.
Donaldson’s does not chase novelty. It tends a flame, letting quality speak in small snaps and slow finishes that make you feel looked after.
Address: 600 S State Rd 39, Lebanon
Lowery’s Home Made Candies
Lowery’s carries the quiet swagger of recipes older than the building. The Dark Secrets are the whisper everyone repeats, dark shells guarding a cream that blooms like a soft lantern.
You bite, and the chocolate gives way to a center that feels both nostalgic and a little mischievous.
The cases also hold buttercreams, toffees, and nut clusters with sensible heft. Nothing here feels rushed.
The gloss is earned, the corners square, the flavors grounded in memory rather than trend. You will taste the difference in the way sweetness stays balanced, letting vanilla and nuts speak clearly.
Ask about history and you get years, nicknames, and a few weather stories that altered cook times. That kind of honesty shows up in the candy.
Boxes are sturdy, ribbons tidy, and the whole place feels like a promise kept.
Before leaving Muncie, stash extra Dark Secrets for future you. They make excellent apologies and even better celebrations.
Lowery’s proves that heritage is not a museum piece. It is a working recipe, turned by hand, checked by eye, and shared generously with anyone who steps through the door asking for something true.
Address: 6255 W Kilgore Ave, Muncie
South Bend Chocolate Company
South Bend Chocolate Company goes big and then bigger. The cafe sprawls with truffles, clusters, bars, and novelties that wink from floor to ceiling.
You could spend a whole afternoon choosing and still feel like you missed a hidden shelf of treasures.
Despite the scale, there is care in the details. Espresso hums beside chocolate, inviting dunkable cookies and long chats.
Try the peanut butter pretzels cloaked in milk chocolate, then add a truffle or two for dessert’s dessert. The staff moves fast but still finds time to recommend a sleeper hit.
There is civic pride on display, a sense that chocolate helped revive conversation downtown. Seasonal shapes appear as if the calendar were written in cocoa.
If you like a bit of spectacle with your sweets, this is your stage.
Leave with a mixed pound and a hot chocolate that behaves like velvet. The parking lot becomes a tasting room as wrappers gather like confetti.
Big can be beautiful when it remembers the small moments, like a perfect snap or a well-salted sprinkle. Here, scale is a canvas for craft, and it works.
Address: 7102 Lincolnway W, Ste 110, South Bend
Stephen Libs Finer Chocolates
Stephen Libs feels like a trusted tailor, fitting chocolates to occasions with ease. Molded pieces carry crisp details, while hand-dipped assortments wear their stripes like signatures.
You choose a box and it sits in your hands with the pleasant heft of something thoughtfully made.
The dark chocolate here speaks in complete sentences, articulate and calm. Creams are smooth without being shy, and caramels land the texture that keeps you from rushing.
Ask for guidance and you will get honest notes, not scripts, the kind that lead you to a new favorite without fuss.
Gift boxes come dressed well, but never overdressed. It is elegance translated for everyday, the kind you can bring to a dinner or a couch movie night.
Nut clusters satisfy in straightforward ways, and a cherry cordial might surprise you by finishing clean.
Evansville has a keeper in this shop. Take home a pound, then hide one piece in the pantry for a rainy minute.
This is chocolate with good manners and a generous heart, the kind that stays in your rotation long after the ribbon is gone.
Address: 6225 Vogel Rd, Evansville
Wakarusa Dime Store
The Wakarusa Dime Store treats jelly beans like headliners. These are jumbo, plump, and glossy, with flavors that announce themselves without shouting.
You scoop them by color until your bag looks like a cheerful patchwork quilt.
There is a delightful creak in the floorboards, and the jars line up like friendly giants. Cinnamon warms, lemon twinkles, and buttered popcorn walks a strangely compelling tightrope you will probably cross twice.
Kids beam, adults pretend not to, and everyone leaves with at least one weird favorite.
Beyond beans, the shelves carry taffy, old-school bars, and curios that nudge nostalgia awake. It feels like a time capsule with a sense of humor.
The staff tells stories about flavors that came and went, then hints about the next seasonal cameo.
On the ride out of town, you will reach into the bag without looking, letting chance pick your next mini adventure. The beans hold their chew and finish clean.
If joy had a vending machine, it would vend these. Tradition here is playful, bright, and a little larger than life, just like the beans themselves.
Address: Jumbo Jelly Beans — 103 E Waterford St, Wakarusa
Santa’s Candy Castle
Santa’s Candy Castle commits to whimsy with total sincerity. The brick turrets, the twinkle lights, the shelves groaning with nostalgia candy all conspire to make you grin.
Order the frozen hot chocolate and watch winter logic happily crumble in July.
Inside, peppermint meets peanut butter bars, and taffy throws colors like confetti. There is a Letter to Santa corner that pulls even the busiest grownup into a pause.
Staff offer samples with a flourish that feels like theater camp, and somehow it works.
The hot cocoa in winter is thick enough to feel like a blanket, topped with marshmallow diplomacy. You will sip and consider moving into a nearby snow globe.
Shoppers compare favorite childhood finds, then discover new crushes among the regional specialties.
This is a destination as much as a store. The parking lot sends you away smiling, bags full of silly, sincere joy.
Indiana has many classic candy rooms, but only one that makes every day flirt with December. Bring your sweet tooth and your inner eight year old.
Both will be delighted.
Address: 15499 N State Road 245, Santa Claus