Dirt Pudding Cups are a fast and easy dessert recipe made from chocolate pudding, Oreo crumbs, and gummy worms. All you need are five ingredients and ten minutes of work, and you’ll be enjoying this “dirt dessert” in no time!
🐛 Worms & Dirt Dessert: A Beloved Classic
Ah, dirt pudding–who knew that something that sounded so gross could taste so good?!
Dirt pudding, also called “dirt dessert,” “dirt cake,” or “worms & dirt,” is a classic American recipe, beloved by both adults and children because it’s easy, fun, and most importantly, tasty!
This recipe requires just five common ingredients, comes together in a few minutes, and is no-bake, so it’s perfect to whip up on hot summer days. It’s a fun project to do with kids, and is a fun addition to BBQs, camping, or birthday parties! For more easy no-bake desserts, don’t miss these Mini Oreo Icebox Cakes, and this Chocolate Raspberry No-Bake Cake! You’ll also want to check out my collection of Halloween Baking Ideas!
Table of Contents
🧾 Ingredients
Dirt pudding is meant to be easy enough for kids to make, so you won’t find any fancy ingredients or preparation here! Here’s what you need to make this recipe. (Links are affiliate links and I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.)
- 1 package (15 oz) Oreo cookies
- 1 package (3.9 oz) chocolate instant pudding – make sure it’s INSTANT!
- 2 cups cold milk, any fat %
- 1.5 cups heavy whipping cream
- 24 gummy worms
- Chocolate rocks are optional, but use ’em if you’ve got ’em!
🍽 Equipment
You truly don’t need any special equipment to make Dirt Pudding. If you have a food processor, that will make crushing the Oreos a fast job, but if you don’t, it can easily be done with a rolling pin.
🥄 Instructions
This recipe has 3 simple parts: making the Oreo crumbs, making the pudding, and assembling the cups.
1. Make the Cookie Crumbs
You can remove the cream filling from the cookies before making the crumbs, but it’s not necessary. I like leaving it in, since it helps the cookie dirt clump together a bit more, plus I’m lazy and like omitting steps when possible. Leaving the cream filling does also add extra sweetness, so it’s your call whether you want to scrape the filling out or not.
If you have a food processor, just chuck in the cookies and blitz until the Oreos are in fine crumbs! No food processor? No problem! You can also make crumbs with a rolling pin:
- Place all the cookies in a heavy-duty gallon zip-top bag. Use a freezer bag if possible, since they’re thicker.
- Roll over the cookies with a rolling pin, pausing to adjust the bag and shift the cookies around as necessary. Smash/pound/roll them until they are mostly fine crumbs, although some larger pieces are okay too–they just add extra texture!
2. Make the Chocolate Pudding Filling
- Combine the instant chocolate pudding and the cold milk, and whisk well.
- Whisk until the chocolate is smooth and free of lumps, then let it sit for at least 5-7 minutes, until it thickens.
- The chocolate is ready when it has the thick texture of pudding (as in the image above). While you wait, whip the heavy cream to medium peaks.
- Add the cream to the pudding and gently fold it in.
- Add about three-quarters of the Oreo crumbs to the pudding, and stir everything together.
- Make sure everything is well-mixed and no pockets of pudding or cream are hiding.
3. Assemble the Dirt Pudding Cups
- Divide the chocolate pudding mixture between eight cups. (See “Serving Size” below for adjustments and alternatives). Stick 3 gummy worms in the top of each pudding.
- Add a generous spoonful of Oreo crumbs on top of each cup and around the worms. If you have chocolate rocks, toss a few on top as well.
- Dig in and enjoy!
👨👩👧👦 Serving Size
This recipe is very flexible and can be easily doubled–or more. If you would like to customize the serving size, just put in the number of servings you would like in the recipe card, and it will do the calculating for you!
If you are making this dirt pudding for children, you can also get more than 8 servings out of the recipe, by making each portion smaller and assembling it in 4- or 6-oz cups. For young kids, the full 8-oz serving is typically too much.
💭 Variations
- Pudding: Try using another flavor of instant pudding, like vanilla, french vanilla, or even something unexpected, like banana!
- Oreos: Pick up one of the many out-of-the-box Oreo types to add some flavor variation. Red velvet Oreos? Carrot cake Oreos? Whatever you’d like–just maybe not with banana pudding. 😉
- Cool Whip: you can substitute one 8-oz package of Cool Whip for the whipped cream in the recipe.
- Candy: try sour gummy worms, or leave worms behind and add other bug-, rock-, or nature-shaped candies.
💡 FAQs
Yes! This recipe doesn’t have to be made in individual cups–you can make it in a 3-quart bowl or trifle dish, or in a 9×13-inch pan. It is easy to double, and keeps well, so it’s a great easy dessert to make for a crowd.
Cover each cup with cling wrap, and store the leftovers in the refrigerator. If you are making these in advance, we recommend adding the worms shortly before serving, so they don’t get soft and sticky in the fridge.
Dirt pudding can last for about 5 days in the refrigerator. Gummy worms will get soft and sticky over time, so we recommend replacing them if the pudding has been stored for several days. The Oreo crumbs will also get very soft, so if you like some crunchy pieces with your pudding, add fresh crumbs on top before serving.
❤️ More FUN Dessert Recipes:
Oreo Milkshake
Oreo Fudge
Leave a Review!
If you make this recipe, let us know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on the recipe below, and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram @elabau, or use #sugarhero on IG!
Dirt Pudding Cups
Ingredients
- 1 package chocolate sandwich cookies, (15 oz), like Oreos, about 30 cookies
- 1 package chocolate instant pudding, (3.9 oz)
- 16 fl oz milk, (2 cups), cold
- 12 fl oz heavy cream, (1 ½ cups)
- 24 gummy worms
- Chocolate rocks, optional
Instructions
- Place the cookies in a food processor, and pulse in long bursts until the cookies are in fine crumbs.
- If you don’t have a food processor, place all the cookies in a heavy-duty gallon zip-top bag. Roll over the cookies with a rolling pin, pausing to adjust the bag and shift the cookies around as necessary. Smash/pound/roll them until they are mostly fine crumbs, with some small chunks remaining.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the instant pudding and milk, and whisk until it’s smooth and free of lumps. Let the pudding set for 5-7 minutes, until it has a thick, pudding-like texture.
- While you wait, whip the heavy cream to medium firm peaks.
- Once the pudding is set and the cream is whipped, gently fold the cream into the pudding.
- Add three-quarters of the cookie crumbs and stir them in to the pudding.
- Divide the pudding between eight 8-oz cups or jars.
- Stick 3 worms into the top of each cup.
- Spoon the remaining cookie crumbs on top of each cup and spread them out into an even layer. Top with chocolate rocks, if you have them.
- Enjoy immediately, or refrigerate until ready to serve. Cover leftovers with plastic wrap, and store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Video
Measuring Tips
Our recipes are developed using weight measurements, and we highly recommend using a kitchen scale for baking whenever possible. However, if you prefer to use cups, volume measurements are provided as well. PLEASE NOTE: the adage “8 oz = 1 cup” is NOT true when speaking about weight, so don’t be concerned if the measurements don’t fit this formula.
Want to learn more about baking measurements and conversion?
What a fun idea! My boys would definitely love it. Thank you for the recipe, bookmarking 🙂
Thanks Jovita! I’d love to hear how it turns out for you and your boys if you give it a try. 🙂
This sounds like fun to make with my daughters. Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks Emese! My 8 year old was super into it. Let me know how it goes!
These pudding cups are a great cooking project with kids! I love the recipe from all my heart and cannot wait for nieces to make it together.
Thank you Irina! My son really loves making this with me. 😀
My nieces and nephew will love making this!! I’m saving this recipe so we can make it together this weekend! Great idea and so fun!
Thank you Jamie! I hope your nieces and nephew love it!
This dessert it is so much fun and such a classic. All kids have had a mud cup but yours is so perfect and cute. Since I do not have kids anymore I will make it for me. Love chocolate and candies.
Thank you Adriana! And it’s totally a hit with kids AND adults–I’m a little embarrassed to admit how many I ate myself. 😀
My kids will love making this! This dessert will be so fun to make with the gummy worms into the pudding. I just hope they dont eat all of they gummy worms!
I’m so glad to hear that they will enjoy these! They are so much fun 🙂
Oh wow, I’ve never made anything like it. Definitely adding it to my experiment list. They look awesome!
Thanks Dionne! Come back and let us know how you like them!
So yummy! I didn’t have gummy worms but gummy bears, and it was equally delicious! My kids loved it!
What a perfect substitution, little bears in dirt! Thanks for sharing!
My kids absolutely love these dirt cups! They’re so fun and perfect for birthday parties!
Yes! A simple go-to for birthday parties for sure! Thanks Tayler!
Thank you for the recipe. My daughter-in-law wanted dirt for dessert. Most recipes seem to call for cream cheese…which she doesn’t like. This turned out perfect!!
Hi Karen! Thanks for the recipe review and rating. We really appreciate it. And, I’m so happy to hear that your daughter-in-law enjoyed her dessert. Way to go!