Phoenix, AZChocolatiers and Candy Shops

Louis and Denise Mirabella, former pastry chefs, make everything from scratch at this Fountain Hills chocolate shop, where the focus is individual chocolates and bonbons, each with its own recipe, and Louis hand-dips the pieces. The case runs from classics like cherry cordials, gianduja and cognac to passionfruit caramel, clove-spiced rice crisps, zinfandel ganache, salted whiskey caramel and roasted raspberry truffles, with sugar-free truffles too. Order a box of bonbons with a roasted raspberry truffle.

Chef Tandy Peterson makes her Embers Chocolate inside this Midtown restaurant, in a corner opposite the kitchen where finished bars line a long island and a grinder slowly works cacao behind them. Chocolate runs through the menu, from a cacao bread served with candied nibs in the honey butter to the mole, and two drinking chocolates close the meal, the chile-warmed Mayan Heat and a creamy European dark. Order an Embers bar to take home and a cup of the Mayan Heat.

Jim and Maureen Elitzak turned a chocolate hobby into this Scottsdale shop, where everything is done by hand, from sorting ethically sourced cacao beans to packaging the finished bars. The line runs to bars, truffles, bonbons, peanut butter cups and caramel turtles, plus drinking chocolate, chocolate whipped honey and cacao nibs, and beans from different regions give the chocolates distinct flavors. Orders are placed ahead online or by phone for pickup at the shop. Order a bar and a box of caramel turtles.

A Glendale candy maker in a historic downtown building, where guided tours walk visitors through the factory and the candy store sells what it makes. The shelves hold chocolates made on site, peanut brittle and a whole section of sugar-free sweets. Order the French mint and a bag of peanut brittle.

A Chandler candy store stocked for nostalgia, with retro sweets beside today's favorites and much of it sold from bulk candy bins. Order a mixed bag from the bulk bins and something retro.