Sugary, cream-filled chocolate Easter eggs easy to make at home

There's no need to wonder whether the Easter Bunny will leave you cream-filled chocolate eggs this year. With a recipe like this one, it's easy -- if calorically costly -- to make your own.

The sugary, creamy filling in these chocolate eggs isn't as soupy as commercial versions, making it easy to handle and shape. It's also what allows you to form the yellow yolk at the center. For efficiency, that step could be skipped in favor of all-white egg fillings.

For the chocolate coating, be sure to use chocolate melts, a candy product intended for making filled chocolates and other treats. These melt easily, coat well and are inexpensive.

Regular chocolate must go through a process known as tempering before it can be used in a recipe such as this (it's not something most people will want to try at home). Melts are available at craft and baking shops, as well as in the baking aisle of many grocers.

Cream-filled chocolate Easter eggs

Start to finish: 1 1/2 hours

Makes about 20

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

3 pounds powdered sugar, plus extra for dusting

Yellow gel food coloring

2 pounds chocolate melts

In a large bowl, combine the butter, salt and vanilla. Use an electric mixer on medium to beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the condensed milk and beat, scraping the bowl as needed, until thoroughly mixed.

Reduce the mixer to low, then add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Continue mixing until it forms a stiff dough. Transfer the mixture to a counter dusted with powdered sugar. Knead until smooth, about 2 to 4 minutes.

Cut away a quarter of the mixture, then add a few drops of yellow gel food coloring to it and knead it in. Use a teaspoon to divide the mixture into about 20 small balls, rolling them between your hands until smooth. Set the balls on a cookie sheet and chill until firm.

Divide the white dough into about 20 larger pieces (you will need an equal number of white and yellow pieces), rolling each into roughly an egg shape. Press a thumb into the center of each and place one of the yellow balls into it.

Gently work the white filling around the yellow ball, covering it completely. Gently shape each piece into an oval. Set aside on a cookie sheet and chill again.

Place the chocolate melts in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high in 20-second bursts, stirring between each, until melted and smooth. One at a time, use a fork to dunk each egg into the chocolate to coat it completely, the set on parchment or waxed paper to set.

Eggs should be stored in the refrigerator until served.