What is more fun than Halloween dirt cake recipe with gummy worms! Want an easy Halloween dessert as the perfect addition to your Halloween party? This cake is sure to please with yummy flavors and such a fun presentation. Plus, it is an easy no bake dessert and simple to make.
Classic No Bake Dessert
Did you know that dirt cake is a classic dessert that has been around for generations? The origins of dirt cake are unclear, but it is thought to have originated in the United States in the late 19th or early 20th century.
The most common ingredients for dirt cake are crushed chocolate sandwich cookies, cream cheese, pudding mix, and whipped cream. This mixture is then layered in a container to resemble dirt. Dirt cake can also be made with chocolate pudding, chocolate sandwich cookies, and chocolate flavored candy.
While the classic recipe is always a hit, there are endless variations of dirt cake that can be created to suit any taste. Whether you’re a fan of the classic recipe or you’re looking to try something new, dirt cake is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Halloween Party Food
Halloween is just around the corner, and that means it’s time to start planning your Halloween party. If you’re looking for a fun and easy dessert to impress your guests, look no further than dirt cake with gummy worms.
You can’t go wrong with this classic Halloween treat.
It is easy to make and always a hit with kids and adults alike. Our family loves dirt cake. We honestly don’t make it enough for how very simple it is.
Recently, we went to a Halloween party where everyone made a dish to pass. My husband and I had lots of fun making this dessert and being creative. At the party, everyone loved the design, and we had an empty pan to take home.
This dessert is fun to make, and delicious to eat too!
How to Make Halloween Dirt Cake with Gummy Worms
Plus, it is a breeze to make with just a few ingredients such as pudding, milk, butter, whipped topping, or Cool Whip, gummy worms, and Oreo cookies. Simply, let the cake chill in the fridge for an hour or so, then serve and enjoy. Your guests will be begging you for the recipe and the decorating possibilities are endless!
Pro Tip. The most important step, it seems, is the instant pudding mix. Many makers of dirt cake have had a sad experience when they did not prepare the pudding mixture first and just tossed it in with the other wet ingredients. For the best results, follow the package directions of the pudding mix and use a hand mixer until the pudding is at least soft set. This helps everything to be more set up in the final pudding and cream cheese mixture. You want your dirt cake to be able to hold up your fun toppings.
Next, either make a homemade whipped cream or use a store bought product like Cool Whip and gently fold it into the pudding mix.
In a separate large bowl, combine the cream cheese, butter, and confectioner’s sugar, or powdered sugar, and mix until smooth. Add this cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and mix gently until it is very smooth. Set aside in the refrigerator while you next prepare the Oreo cookies.
The Oreo cookies, or chocolate sandwich cookies of your choice, are an integral part of this classic dessert. If you have a food processor, now is the time to get that out. It’s easiest to put the whole cookies right into a food processor and process until they resemble dirt. If you are not lucky enough to have a food processor, do not fret. You can use a Ziploc bag and a rolling pin to make the crushed Oreos. You will just want to crush them as much as you can, so they resemble something like dirt. This can be a fun dessert to make with your kids as you can have them assist you with crushing cookies.
Serving and Assembly Suggestions
If you are using a single dish to serve, you can make it beautiful by using a trifle bowl. Simply layer crushed cookies and alternate with a pudding layer and then more crushed cookies until you reach the top. Top with the remaining Oreos. Be start and end with the cookie layer by reserving enough cookies crumbs to top it off. Then decorate the top with your favorite toppings, or the classic gummy candies like gummy worms. Be sure to cover with plastic wrap if you will not be serving this dirt cake recipe right away.
If you are serving it as dirt pudding cups, start with an Oreo crust on the bottom of each cup. Then, build your layers with the pudding mix and Oreo crumbs until you reach the top, being sure to end off with the Oreo topping. Then add all your fun items to the top of the cake to make some awesome Halloween treats.
You can also use small cups for individual servings of dirt cake, especially for your Halloween parties. Individual cups such as single serving plastic cups make it much easier for little hands to hold and serve themselves. You can also make it more fun by making dirt cups out of little cups shaped like planter pots
Serving this in a 9 x 13 we like the best because we can make a graveyard. We added cookies for tombstones, marshmallow pumpkins, and gummy worms as toppings.
Fun ways to change up Halloween dirt cake
You can make a chocolate dirt cake by simply changing the vanilla pudding out for instant chocolate pudding instead. This makes it a very chocolatey and rich dirt cake.
You can also switch out the gummy worms for other gummy treats or use other candies for topping your dirt cake.
Candy bars are also a good option to crush or crumble and add to the top of your cake. Nutter Butter cookies and graham crackers are other big hits as a topping.
For Halloween, you could easily make this into a graveyard dirt cake with tombstone cookies and body part candies!
Another fun twist is candy pumpkins or others like candy corn, Twizzlers, or Sour Patch Kids. Plus, these also add a fun pop of color to your dessert.
Summertime No Bake Dessert Dirt Cake
Flowerpot Dirt Cake. More often when served throughout the year, this dirt cake is served in a clean flowerpot. Garnish the flowerpot cake with gummy worms; display it with a new garden trowel and artificial flowers for the full effect.
Halloween Dirt Cake Recipe with Gummy Worms
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Kitchen Essentials
Ingredients
- 32 Ounces Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Cream Filling
- 3 ½ Cups Milk
- 6.8 Ounces Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix 2 (3.4 ounce) packages
- 12 Ounces Whipped Topping 1 container thawed
- 8 Ounces Cream Cheese 1 package softened
- ½ Cup Butter softened
- ½ Cup Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- Finely crush chocolate cookies in a food processor; set crumbs aside.
- Combine instant vanilla pudding and milk in a large bowl. Whisk until pudding is soft set. Fold in whipped topping and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, and confectioner’s sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth.
- Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture. Stir to combine.
- In your serving container, add half of the cookie crumbs. Layer on the pudding mixture. Add the top layer of cookie crumbs.
- Chill dirt cake in the refrigerator until ready to serve, garnish as desired.
Your Own Private Notes
Notes
Fun ways to change up Halloween dirt cake
You can make a chocolate dirt cake by simply changing the vanilla pudding out for instant chocolate pudding instead. This makes it a very chocolatey and rich dirt cake. You can also switch out the gummy worms for other gummy treats or use other candies for topping your dirt cake. Candy bars are also a good option to crush or crumble and add to the top of your cake. Nutter Butter cookies and graham crackers are other big hits as a topping. For Halloween, you could easily make this into a graveyard dirt cake with tombstone cookies and body part candies! Another fun twist is candy pumpkins or others like candy corn, Twizzlers, or Sour Patch Kids. Plus, these also add a fun pop of color to your dessert.Summertime No Bake Dessert Dirt Cake
More often when served throughout the year, this dirt cake is served in a clean flowerpot. Garnish the flowerpot cake with gummy worms; display it with a new garden trowel and artificial flowers for the full effect.Nutrition
