Find sweets for your Valentine at these 10 shops

Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz is credited with saying, “All you need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” And for Valentine’s Day, it’s de rigueur.

Candy is the most popular Valentine’s Day gift, according to the National Retail Federation, with 57% of consumers purchasing sweets for their sweetie. Just in time for this holiday that drips with romance, we’ve selected 10 of the best chocolate makers across the Midwest and South to tempt you with something sweet for your celebration of love.

Since 1981, the Abel family, owners of the Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Company, has made life sweet in St. Louis. Shop an array of treats from 5 area locations, including its factory near The Hill neighborhood, where free guided tours showcase the operation.

Co-founder Dan Abel Jr. says during Valentine’s week, chocolate-covered strawberries account for as much as 90% of their business.

For many St. Louisans, it wouldn’t be Valentine’s Day without strawberries from Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate. Abel remembers when an ice storm hit the region on February 13, 2007. Staff members were in the original St. Louis Hills shop at 4 a.m. but wondered if anyone would come in.

“By about 6 a.m., 4 hours before our store opens, customers saw the lights on and started coming to the door, and we did the same numbers as the previous year,” Abel says. “Since we were short-staffed, I personally waited on most of the customers, and they all told me there was no way they were skipping chocolate-covered strawberries on Valentine’s Day, ice or not.” Factory store closed Sundays.

Top off your visit with handmade chocolate bars and seasonal specialties like a red heart-shaped box of chocolates. In addition to chocolate, cream, sugar, and butter, the owners mix a heaping spoonful of nostalgia into their confections. Closed Sundays.

For Valentine’s Day, he says sea salt caramels—handmade from scratch—are the shop’s most popular confection. Because artificial preservatives aren’t used, production for caramels and luscious truffles ramps up just 2 weeks ahead of the holiday. Coffee, peanut butter, and pecans flavor other popular chocolate treats. Closed Mondays.

Teresa Floyd, Christopher Elbow’s digital communications director, says the heart-shaped box filled with bonbons from their signature collection is a Valentine’s Day bestseller. “Classic on the outside, modern on the inside,” Floyd says. Customers will sometimes hide an engagement ring inside the box for an extra romantic touch.

Production to prepare Valentine confections, including the champagne and crème brûlée bonbons, always starts in December. Closed Sundays.

At the corner of West 50th Street and State Line Road sits Annedore’s Fine Chocolates. The turreted chocolate shop looks as though it’s leapt from the pages of a fairy-tale book. Inside, princes and princesses can buy some of the area’s best handmade truffles for each other.

Started in 1988 by Swiss pastry chef Annedore Hatch and his wife, Nancy, the shop has been part of area Valentine celebrations for more than 30 years. Current owner Sheri Weedman bought the shop in 2008. She and her crew create swoon-worthy confections.

Heart-shaped or smaller gift boxes can be filled with truffles, caramels, and solid chocolate hearts. Strawberries are dipped in dark, milk, or white chocolate and finished with a chocolate drizzle. Also in Shawnee, Kansas. Both closed Sundays and Mondays.

Jen Libbra, owner of The Chocolate Affair, knows to have plenty of chocolate-covered strawberries on hand for Valentine’s Day, the busiest single day for her business. Even so, you should pre-order them to guarantee you’ll have some for your significant other. Heart-shaped boxes filled with her handmade chocolates are another popular option.

For those who love chocolate and wine pairings, she offers an unusual twist. Bring in your sweetie’s favorite bottle of wine, and for $23, Libbra will triple-dip it in dark chocolate, drizzle it with white chocolate, and wrap it with a pretty ribbon. Then you can peel off the roughly 1 pound of chocolate and eat it while enjoying the vintage with your beloved. Closed Sundays.

Generations of southern Indiana folk have wooed loved ones with chocolates from Schimpff’s Confectionery. Warren Schimpff, who owns the storied candy shop with his wife, Jill, is the fourth generation to work at the family business. Warren says their heart-shaped boxes are the bestsellers for Valentine’s Day. Customers can select 1, 5, or 8 pounds of chocolates to fill a decorative box. Many customers return the following year to refill the same box.

“We have one man who has been bringing back the same box for 30 years,” he says. “He fills the same box from home for his sweetheart.”

Engagement rings sometimes are hidden inside the boxes by customers prepared to pop the question on Valentine’s Day. Warren says he tucked Jill’s engagement ring under a dark chocolate–covered cherry cordial, a sweet they both love. The gesture must have worked; they’ve been married for 56 years. Closed Sundays.

A visit to Markham & Fitz might be the perfect date night for chocolate lovers. This chocolate shop is also a café and bar. It features outstanding bean-to-bar confections along with beverages, wine, and inventive cocktails that are either made from or pair well with chocolate.

For Valentine’s Day, owner Lauren Blanco puts a spin on chocolate-covered strawberries. Her heart-shaped strawberry and dark chocolate bonbons, available only in February, can be purchased in a variety of gift sets. Some include pairings with seasonal chocolate bar flavors, recommended drink pairings, and a link to a Spotify playlist perfectly curated for a romantic night at home.

The display case at Piety and Desire Chocolate holds a heady display of jewel-colored bonbons. This chocolate café’s bar serves nonalcoholic drinks like coffee, ice cream, and drinking chocolate to rival the best Paris has to offer.

But in Louisiana, February not only brings Valentine’s Day but also Carnival season. Owner Christopher Nobles says the shop’s Mardi Gras–themed bonbons go into production immediately after Christmas for the start of Carnival on January 6.

“Given those demands, we typically start making Valentine-specific pieces the second week of January,” says Nobles, adding the heart-shaped and rose-flavored bonbons are among the best sellers.

His favorite is Grande Bacio (big kiss), a large dark chocolate heart filled with roasted hazelnuts and a chocolate-hazelnut spread. “It’s such an elevated version of a classic flavor combo that’s hard to resist,” he says. Closed Sundays and Mondays.

Preparing for Valentine’s Day at Nandy’s Candy is an enormous undertaking. Starting at the end of December and working through February 14, owner Emmie King says production of cherry cordials, caramel treats, truffles, and the best-selling chocolate-covered strawberries requires help from many hands. But after 42 years, it’s a well-rehearsed process.

“It’s a family affair, as my 75-year-old dad mans the chocolate dipping, my sister helps on the phone, and past employees and their family members pitch in, too,” she says, adding they typically use 160 flats of fresh strawberries in 2 days (February 13 and 14). “We start dipping at 4 a.m. and keep going all day.”

Traditional heart-shaped candy boxes also are popular with customers. She says last year, a man brought in a 42-year-old heart box from Nandy’s to fill with sweets for his sweet. Forgot your honey on the holiday? Don’t worry; King and her crew always make extra treats to sell on February 15. Closed Sundays.

Deborah Reinhardt is a St. Louis–based blogger (threewomeninthekitchen.com) and author who covers food and travel. Her award-winning book, Delectable Destinations, is a chocolate-lover’s guide to Missouri.