Ranking All the Fudge on Mackinac Island
Mackinac Island is famous for a lot of things, but most importantly, it’s known for its fudge. With seven fudge shops on the island, I took it upon myself - for research purposes, of course - to try them all and rank their classic milk chocolate fudge so the next time you visit you can skip right to the good stuff!
1. Murray’s Hotel Fudge Co.
Hidden away in a lesser known hotel, I was surprised by Murray’s fudge. It’s an unsuspecting choice and quite honestly I had never heard much about it. I like Murray’s the best because it wasn’t too rich to the point you feel like you need water and was gooey to eat. There was also no weird aftertaste which some of them have. They had plenty of crazy flavors my Mom and I regret not trying.
2. Original Murdick’s Fudge
This is the fudge I brought home for my friends and family. The reason I didn’t pick Murray’s to bring home is because if you’re looking for the classic, rich, fudge taste Murdick’s is the place you should go. It’s a known favorite.
3. Joann’s Fudge
I would definitely get Joann’s Fudge again. When pitting Joann’s against Murdick’s it was an incredibly hard choice, they were both great but in different ways. Joann’s Fudge is soft, doesn’t make a mess, and isn’t overly rich in comparison to Murdick’s but still manages to have the chocolate flavor. If you decide not to go there for fudge I highly recommend stopping in there for the chocolate covered cookie dough balls, I had one and I think it was my favorite thing on the planet. I will also make the comment that Joann’s had overly nice staff, which naturally made the experience more enjoyable.
4. May’s Candy Shop
May’s was pretty standard; I would eat their fudge again. Their packaging was my favorite, they have photos from the Island on their boxes which I thought was nice. It’s a very old-school smaller place which I liked.
5. Ryba’s Fudge
Ryba’s Fudge is everywhere downtown Mackinac Island. As you’re walking it feels like they’ve taken up half the real estate on that two-block strip where tourists hang out. That being said, you’d think it would be really good, but it was a little bit of a letdown. It did have the softness that I wanted but there wasn’t a lot of flavor to it, certainly not compared to any of the top four places on this list. To be fair to Ryba’s, I may have just gotten a bad slice, but I wouldn’t stop there again.
6. Kilwins Candy
Kilwins disappointed me. I have been in love with Kilwins since I tried their fudge brownie ice cream a few years ago so I was really rooting for their fudge to be amazing. Unfortunately, although it was really delicious my Mom and I could not get passed the fact that the outside of it was so dry, almost flaky. As you got toward the middle it got better but as a whole it was just okay. That being said, I do highly recommend going there for ice cream! It’s amazing!
7. Sanders Fine Chocolates
Like it says in the name, Sanders is a chocolate shop through and through so when we got fudge there and tried to compare it to shops that were mostly if not all fudge I wasn’t surprised it didn’t measure up. They have great chocolate candies because that’s their focus, not fudge. Unlike the other stores you don’t see an array of fresh slices in fun flavors when you walk in. Their slices are pre-packaged in square plastic boxes. It was a little waxy and tasted almost more like candy than it did fudge.
I hope this article helps you have the best fudge tasting experience on Mackinac Island you can. Happy tasting!