There’s this one restaurant we go to in our local area that has my son’s absolute favorite dessert ever – dirt and worms. We’ve all had it before – pudding, crushed up Oreos, and gummy worms. My son gets it without the pudding but the idea is the same – there’s just something about eating dirt and worms that’s fun. This Oreo dirt cake makes it not only fun to eat but also delicious with the addition of layers of a pudding filling to go with the Oreo crumbs! And of course, it’s all topped with gummy worms because what’s an Oreo dirt cake without worms!?! If you want to make this for Halloween, you could make it even spookier by adding some candy tombstones, gummy body parts (like the ones in my Halloween punch), or anything else to make it a little more Halloween ish. It’d be kind of like my dig your own grave dessert bar! You could even add some food coloring to the pudding like I did with this candy corn layered pudding dessert to go all the way Halloween! Or just eat it as is, which is yummy!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Nostalgic – we’ve all eaten dirt and worms at some point in our life so this is a fun nostalgic recipe for adults and one that kids will just get a kick out of (if they’ve never had it before). Individual servings – while this recipe is written for an actual cake, you can totally just put this into individual cups or servings as well! It’s just a matter of a little more layering! Gummy worms – there’s a reason that so many of the Disneyland Halloween treats had gummy worms in them – people love gummy worms!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
Vanilla pudding – make sure it’s the instant kind so that it’ll set in just a few minutes! You don’t want the regular vanilla pudding mix or it’ll take way longer to make this dessert! Oreos – I recommend just using regular Oreos rather than double stuffed! I just grabbed one of their large packages and that was about the right number of Oreos. Cream cheese – make sure it’s nice and soft so that it can cream with the other ingredients properly. If it’s still cold and hard, you’ll end up with chunks of cream cheese.
How to Make an Oreo Dirt Cake
Okay the first thing you need to do is put all of those Oreos into a food processor and pulse until they become Oreos crumbs. I recommend pulsing the cookies rather than just letting it process so that you can still have some small chunks in the mixture. You want larger crumbs, not fine ones like you would with these Oreo truffles. Next you’re going to place the cream cheese in a bowl and cream it with a hand mixer (or with a stand mixer) until smooth. Once the cream cheese is smooth, add the instant pudding mix and the milk to the cream cheese mixture. Mix that until well combined. This will be the base of your pudding layers. Finish it off by folding in the Cool Whip until it’s completely combined with the pudding layer. You want it to be one smooth and creamy mixture without being able to see streaks of the Cool Whip in it. Add a layer of the Oreo crumbs (dirt) to the bottom of a trifle bowl (or a glass baking dish or individual glasses). Then top it with a layer of the pudding mixture. Continue layering until you run out of the mixtures, making sure to start and end with the dirt. Top the cake with all sorts of gummy worms (you could actually put gummy worms in every dirt layer of the cake), making them look like they’re climbing out of the dirt! Keep chilled until serving then serve using a large serving spoon and individual bowls.
Expert Tips
Add gummy worms to the internal layers of dirt for some surprise treats throughout the cake. Make the pudding layer up to a day ahead of time. Refrigerate until ready to use then just layer the cake together right before serving. Store in the refrigerator for up to three days. After three days the Oreo crumbs tend to get a little soggy.
More Easy Oreo Recipes
If you like Oreos, you’ll love these other yummy Oreo inspired recipes!
Mini Oreo cheesecake – these tasty little bites combine an Oreo crust with a peanut butter cheesecake filling! Grey stuff recipe – this copycat recipe of a Disney movie classic starts with Oreos and ends with something fit for any princess party idea! Oreo crust ice cream cake – this delicious ice cream cake features an Oreo crust, ice cream sandwich layers, and vanilla ice cream! Easy Oreo truffles – the easiest way to enjoy Oreos in truffle form! They’re simple and absolutely delicious.
