These fun dirt cups are individual portions of everyone’s favorite worms and dirt cake and perfect for pretty muh any party! They’re served in clear cups so everyone can see the layers of Oreo “dirt” and creamy pudding, then topped with more dirt and gummy worms. These adorable treats are so easy to make, can be prepared the day before, AND are absolutely delicious!
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No Bake Oreo Worms and Dirt Cups
I love dirt and worms and so do both of my boys, even my son who doesn’t love chocolate loves a good old-fashioned Oreo dirt cake.
I’ve made dirt cookies, dirt and worms Oreo muddy buddies, and during Halloween, even a Halloween dirt cake because my family loves the combination so much!
So I thought it’d be fun to make individual dirt cups that you could serve at a party, an end of the school year celebration, or just to your own kids at home!
These individual cups come together easily and are just perfect for birthday parties and classroom parties. The benefit of everyone having their own little portion is that you can label the cups with names for easy identification.
When you want a fun dessert for sleepovers and movie nights, this also makes a great kitchen activity that the kids can do on their own!
Why you’ll love These dirt cups
- They’re easy dessert cups – a cup of dirt and worms takes about 15 minutes to make! Depending on the number of servings you need, you could easily double the recipe.
- Great make-ahead dessert – keep assembled cups refrigerated overnight and set them out when you’re ready to serve.
- Customizable – I love serving dirt cake cups in plastic cups so everyone can see the fun layers, and it’s a bit more kid-friendly, but there are truly some creative ideas that you might want to try. Ceramic flower pots or mason jars to name a couple.
Ingredients in Dirt Cake Cups
Ingredient Notes
- Oreos – keep the whole cookie intact. You’ll pulse the cream filling too which helps to sweeten that layer and prevents the cookies from getting soggy. Oh and I recommend regular and not Double Stuffed Oreos so you don’t end up with too much cream filling!
- Cream cheese – use a block of cream cheese and bring it to room temperature about one hour before you begin. Avoid using tubs of spreadable cream cheese because they contain more water and can ruin the consistency of your pudding!
- Instant vanilla pudding – make sure to get the instant kind so it’ll set in just a few minutes. Regular (non-instant) will take much longer to make!
- Cool Whip – I prefer this over whipped cream just because it’s a little more stable. You could also use homemade cool whip.
How to make Dirt Pudding Cups
These Oreo dirt ups are so easy to make! It’s literally just creating your dirt, making the pudding mixture, layering, and decorating with gummy worms!
1 – Make the Oreo Dirt
- 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 I use for the Oreo crust of this Butterfinger pie.
Tip!
If you have a smaller food processor, do this in batches and remove the Oreo crumbs between batches rather than just trying to add more cookies to the processor. You’ll get the crumbs you’re looking for quicker that way. If you add too many Oreos at once, you’ll end up having to process it so much that half will be fine crumbs that you don’t really want!
2 – Make the Pudding Filling
- 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.
- 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.
3 – Make the dirt cups
- Add a layer of the Oreo crumbs (dirt) to the bottom of individual glasses or trifle dishes.
- 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.
Note!
I didn’t tell you exactly how much of each to add because it’ll depend on what size cups you use and how thick you want your layers. I actually only did two regular layers of Oreo crumbs with two layers of the pudding mixture, then finished it off with a small layer of dirt crumbs on top!
4 – Decorate the Dirt Cake Cups
These aren’t dirt cups without worms coming out of the dirt! Finish off the cups by adding little gummy worms peeking in and out of the Oreo dirt!
I can’t wait to make these again this year! I’m going to bring them out at the end of our nature scavenger hunt while we talk about these fun Earth Day questions! I know my boys will love it and I hope you do too!
How to Store Dirt Cups
If you don’t think you’ll eat these right away, remove the gummy worms then store them covered in plastic wrap in the fridge for up to three days! If you leave them much longer than that, they’ll be too soggy to enjoy! And if you leave the gummy worms in the fridge, they’ll get hard!
I don’t recommend freezing these! But if you want to save yourself a few minutes and make the pudding ahead of time, you can make it the night before and then just layer with the Oreos right before serving!
Expert Tips & Storage Information
Crushing Oreos. The easiest way to get the fine crumbs is to use a food processor. When that’s unavailable, place the cookies into a Ziploc bag or any resealable plastic bag, release the air, and seal it. Then use a rolling pin to smash and roll the Oreo cookies into bits.
Crush Oreos in batches. You’ll find it easier this way. When you keep adding Oreos into the food processor, the cookie crumbs that were in there to begin with, will continue to be pulsed almost too much.
Go for more thin layers rather than just one thick layer of each of the filling types. The idea is to get a good variety of textures with every single bite!
Recipe FAQs
Can I turn this back into dirt cake?
Absolutely! If you want to use this recipe for dirt cake, just layer all of the ingredients in a large trifle dish or serving bowl instead of individual cups!
What other flavors of pudding can I use?
Dessert dirt cups can be made with all sorts of pudding flavors. I use vanilla because I love the distinction between the black and white layers, however, truth be told, using a chocolate pudding layer is the most popular choice. For fun, you could color a vanilla pudding layer using gel food coloring and make it whatever color you want.
A fun way to switch things up even more would be to use a different flavor of Oreo! Golden Oreos, mint Oreos (hello St. Patrick’s Day), or birthday cake Oreos would be great.
What if I can’t don’t have gummy worms, what else could I use?
All sorts of goodies! Try gummy bears, chocolate chips, crushed Oreos, or whatever candy you have on time. For Easter, add some marshmallow peeps and mini eggs!
More Oreo Recipes
There is no shortage of ways to use Oreo cookies in desserts. Here are some more unique and delicious ideas to try:
- Oreo ice cream cake – not your ordinary birthday cake! Made with layers of ice cream sandwiches, Oreo cookies, and whipped topping. The perfect cake for ice cream and cookie lovers!
- Cookie Oreo brownie bars – a 3-in-1 dessert made with a layer of chocolate chip cookies, topped with Oreos and a top layer of gooey brownie.
- Grey stuff recipe – a copycat of the original Disney version, but better! An Oreo mousse served on top of a sugar cookie is a delight for everyone.
- Oreo spider treats – Oreo cookies and cream cheese come alive with these adorable little spider treats! Add these to your festive Halloween this year.
- Oreo truffles – made with 3 ingredients, they’re chewy, decadent, and suitable for any occasion.
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Oreo Dirt Cups
Ingredients
- 80 Oreos
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 2 boxes instant vanilla pudding 3-4 oz each
- 4 cups milk
- 12 oz Cool Whip
- 1 pack gummy worms
Instructions
- In a food processor, turn Oreos into Oreo crumbs.80 Oreos
- Cream softened cream cheese until smooth with either a hand mixer or in a stand mixer.8 oz cream cheese
- Add instant pudding mix and milk to the cream cheese mixture and mix until well combined.2 boxes instant vanilla pudding, 4 cups milk
- Fold in the Cool Whip until the mixture is completely mixed together.12 oz Cool Whip
- Layer dirt and pudding mixture in individual glasses making sure to begin and end with dirt.
- Top with gummy worms and serve chilled.1 pack gummy worms
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