Every Treat Not Good to Eat in Atlanta Plus One that’s Sweet | Bakery’s in Atlanta with Kids

That’s right. We said not! Not good to eat. I mean, I don’t get it. Paula Deen, the Butter Queen herself, is from none other than the sweet state of Georgia and yet we had the hardest time finding a decent bakery in all of Atlanta. And we tried! We struck out four out of five times! If there is one thing that the south should be good at, it’s sweets. They’ve managed to make famous Banana Pudding, Pecan Pie, and even create a dessert out of a root vegetable but none of that apparently happened in Atlanta.

Every Treat Not Good to Eat in Atlanta
Plus One that’s Sweet

Not to disparage my love of cake, but the entire reason we were on a quest to discover all these candy stores was because when I was 12 years old living in Atlanta, my sister gave me a candy apple. A bright candy apple red sweet and crisp jolly rancher apple. I had no choice but to introduce these same treats, in the same city, to my precious loved ones.

Gabriel and I had an opportunity on our honeymoon when we were in New Orleans to try a candy apple, but I stepped in and put a stop to it! I refused to get one. Call me silly, but we had to get one in Atlanta.

See in the West we only have traditional caramel apples. Sure we load them with all sorts of incredibly sugary toppings, but the base is always caramel. You have to travel East to find an apple covered in red deliciousness that crunches with every bite. Even though I was treated to this amazing concoction for the first time in Atlanta in the Underground it turns out they aren’t that easy to find.

It was a total failure; not a single one of these candy stores sold these coveted treats! So we present to you our family’s failed attempts at getting not only a candy apple in Atlanta, but a tasty treat as well. Fortunately we did finally find a candy apple the day we left Atlanta – at the airport! It was serendipitous because we only found it because we missed our flight!

Without further adieu, these are all the sweet treats to avoid and then just one decent place to fulfill your sweet tooth.

Bruster’s
2420 Cobb Pkwy SE
Smyrna, GA 30080
Phone: (724) 774-4250
Hours: Sunday thru Thursday: Noon – 10pm | Friday & Saturday: Noon – 11pm

No, I didn’t think an ice cream shoppe was going to sell candy apples, but we treated ourselves to some ice cream one evening because the candy store we wanted to go was already closed. Bruster’s claims to use real ingredients, but real is pejorative word. It doesn’t actually define anything other than existence, and I’ll tell you that the Banana Pudding flavor I chose tastes nothing like the bananas I’ve had over the past couple of decades. Bruster’s is located in the shopping center near Juicy Crab, and that is where you should spend your money.

Queen of Cream
701 Highland Ave NE #1
Atlanta, GA 30312
Phone: (404) 331-0807
Hours: Monday thru Friday 3pm – 11pm | Saturday Noon – 11pm | Sunday Noon – 10pm

After failing to get some decent ice cream at Bruster’s, we decided to check out the Queen of Cream to find out if the crown is deserving. This shoppe is located near the Martin Luther King Center. The Queen of Cream focuses a little too much on being eccentric than actually being good. Who wants charcoal ice cream? I guess maybe the same people that want their ice cream to taste like flowers. I’m not one of the those people. Gabriel walked in, took a look at the menu and decided on a hard pass.

Kilwin’s
1380, 14160 Atlantic Dr #14160
Atlanta, GA 30363
Phone: (404) 817-7500
Hours: Monday thru Friday 11am – 10pm | Saturday & Sunday 11am – 12am

My only guess is that Kilwin’s forgot where they are located because I can get caramel apples anywhere! Including my own kitchen – I didn’t need to come all the way to Atlanta to be disappointed that they didn’t bother to get the memo they were supposed to make candy apples!

This place actually looked pretty decent. It was a huge store with cases full of of sweet treats and rows of caramel apples. Mostly I was just annoyed we drove all the way out here to discover they didn’t also have candy apples. We ordered some white chocolate caramel fudge and some peanut butter chocolate fudge. The peanut butter chocolate fudge was amazing, but the white chocolate caramel fudge tasted like you poured an entire 5lb bag of sugar straight into your throat.

Southern Candy Company
231 West Peachtree Street Northwest
Atlanta, GA 30303
Phone: (404) 577-3697
Hours: Monday thru Friday 10am – 7pm | Saturday & Sunday Closed

In fairness, the Southern Candy Company does sell candy apples, but poor management didn’t ensure they had enough by mid afternoon and we were left without a shiny red apple to reflect our tears of grief. This store is located downtown near Peachtree Plaza. They didn’t have anything you couldn’t find anywhere else, except for a southern pecan log that reminded me of my Grandma. It might be cruel to give them a #stinkydiaper but, no. candy. apples.

Cami’s Cupcakes
4500 W Village Pl #1009
Smyrna, GA 30080
Phone: (770) 693-2615
Hours: Monday thru Thursday 10:30am – 8:30pm | Friday & Saturday 10:30am -9pm | Sunday 12pm – 7pm

This cute little pink confectionery was located just up the road from our hotel and our favorite BBQ place in Atlanta. We were intrigued by the claim they sold organic ice cream. Unfortunately, these claims were false, and on top of that the employees were a little surly and lacking that infectious southern charm.

However, Cami’s Cupcakes sells beautifully decorated and delicious cupcakes in both standard sizes and mini sizes, plus they have a creamery. The cupcakes are moist, fresh and not too sweet that they infect you with tingly tongue.

But none of these treats compare to the ice cream. The Banana Pudding Ice Cream. Now this, this ice cream is made of dreams. Pillowy soft, cotton candy, vanilla wafer dreams that make you loathe the morning sun ripping you away from a deep restful sleep. If I remember nothing else from our trip to Atlanta, it will be this ice cream.

What are we missing here? What sweet treats should we have tried during our visit to Atlanta? If you came to Atlanta and lucked out on the candy apple scene like we did, you can use these fancy tear drops jars to catch your magical loss.

Be sure to check out our compilation of #cleandiaper and #stinkydiaper BBQ in Atlanta as well (coming soon), plus our review of the Best Southern Breakfast you can find in the Peach State!