This fun Oreo dirt cake combines Oreos, pudding, and of course worms to make this the ultimate dirt and worms dessert! Serve this up for a fun summer dessert, spooky Halloween treat, or really anytime you’re just craving something sweet!
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.
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.
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.
Recipe FAQs
Dirt and worms is a yummy dessert that combines Oreo crumbs (dirt) and gummy worms, often times with pudding to create a layered effect like the earth.
Along with gummy worms, you can also add little candy pumpkins, candy tombstones, gummy body parts, jelly beans, or anything else you might find in the dirt.
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.
Oreo Dirt Cake
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 in a glass trifle bowl, beginning and ending with dirt.
- Top with gummy worms and serve chilled.1 pack gummy worms
rosa hernandez says
This is awesome… a treat for Halloween for my daughter.. a must tryQQ
tami says
I would love to make this with the kids I work with. Good sensory too by crushing oreos in baggies.
Britni Vigil says
I hope they have fun with it!
amy harper says
I think adding Halloween type candies would make this over the top cute! I think I’ll make this in single servings for my son’s class at school. I love dirt cake and have done it with ice cream too in stead of pudding! Plus, I’ve seen little plastic shovel spoons on Amazon and used those instead of regular spoons. So many fun ideas!
Jackie Navis says
I love dirt cake! It is fun and there are so many variations that you can do with it. I make dirt cake cups with my special education students each year. We make them with ground up Oreos, chocolate pudding cups, and of course the worms. They love them! I have never made the recipe that is listed but I will try for a Halloween gathering I am going to. I have made other recipes but never used cream cheese in my recipe before so I am interested to see what that adds to it. I plan to add edible tombstones, maybe some eyeballs or creepy hands coming out of the dirt.
Cathy Lippert says
One of our favorite recipes from when my kids were younger. They used to love adding the worms and getting creative with the layering.
Suzanne says
A win-win easy, fun recipe! My grandnieces are coming for the long weekend so this would be fun with some candy pumpkins added to the top. It might be fun to mix in some crushed Nutter Butter cookies for a choco-peanut butter taste.
Allison Carter says
I love Oreo and this would be something I would enjoy making and sharing with the kids in my classroom for Halloween.
Jacqueline McNamara says
thus reminds me of my oldest grandson. he loves dirt cake. to thus day I make it occasionally but now for his children.
Samantha Wilcox says
I’ve had this in ice cream version before but have not made it myself. It’s really yummy, but the worms get a little hard after being in the fridge. I wonder if it would be the same with this recipe. I would love to try it with jelly beans. Especially because you can customize any different ways with all the different kinds of jelly beans.
Aimee says
What a delicious fun recipe! You could add marshmallows and say it’s ghost poo! I’m going to make this for our family game night!