Dirt Cake is a classic Midwestern dessert recipe that I remember my Mom making for nearly every summer BBQ, picnic, and special occasion when I was young. It is one of the best tasting desserts – EVER – and super simple to whip up.
Crushed Oreo cookies are layered with a luscious, whippy pudding mixture, then topped with ooey-gooey gummy worms for a fun and festive touch. This dessert is a total crowd pleaser.
How to Serve Dirt Cake:
My Mom always served Dirt Cake layered in a large glass bowl, but this is the perfect summer dessert recipe to get creative with. Layer the ingredients in plastic cups for an individual presentation. Add faux or even edible flowers for a more convincing garden look. You can even play around with the color of the pudding and/or sandwich cookies to cater to different holidays!
What’s in Dirt Cake?
- Instant vanilla pudding
- Skim milk
- Cool whip
- Powdered sugar
- Softened butter
- Softened cream cheese
- Oreos
Step 1: Make the Pudding Layer
Begin by adding instant vanilla pudding and cold skim milk to a large bowl.
Whisk vigorously for 5 minutes, or until the pudding is soft set.
Next fold in Cool Whip. You could use regular or sugar-free here, if you wanted to.
In a separate bowl, stir together softened butter, powdered sugar, and softened cream cheese until smooth.
Add the cream cheese mixture into the pudding mixture then stir until very, very smooth.
LUSCIOUSNESS!
Step 2: Make the Cookie Layer
Next, bust out a package of America’s favorite sandwich cookies – Oreos.
Did you know that Oreos used to be sold in 20oz packages, per my Mom’s original recipe from the 80s? You could practically see the steam coming out of her ears the day she found out they shrunk the package down to 15.5oz, and were selling it for more money. Hell hath no fury like a consumer scorned!
Anyway, pop the cookies into a food processor or blender, then process until they’re fine crumbs and deposit said crumbs into a bowl.
Step 3: Assemble the Dirt Cake
Spoon 1-1/2 cups cookie crumbs into the bottom of a large bowl followed by half the pudding mixture. I use a really wide bowl which made the layers appear uneven in these photos. If you want yours to appear more even you could use a trifle bowl.
Add 1-1/2 cups cookie crumbs on top…
followed by the remaining pudding mixture, and then the remaining cookie crumbs.
Top the assembled Dirt Cake with gummy worms and flowers, if you wish, then serve. I hope you love this sweet and seriously scrumptious taste of the Midwest! Enjoy!
More Easy Dessert Recipes:
- Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Dirt Cake >
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Blondies >
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Lava Cakes for 2 >
- Triple Berry Crumb Bars >
- Peanut Butter S’mores Cheesecake Ball >
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Dirt Cake
Description
Dirt Cake is a classic Midwestern dessert that's loved by all. This festive, summer dessert recipe is a cinch to whip up.
Ingredients
- 2, 3.4oz packages vanilla instant pudding
- 3-1/2 cups cold skim milk
- 12oz Cool Whip
- 8oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 15.5oz package Oreos
- Gummy worms, fake flowers (optional)
Directions
- Combine instant pudding and skim milk in a large bowl. Whisk for 5 minutes, or until pudding is soft set. Fold in cool whip then set aside.
- In a separate bowl, stir together cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar until smooth. Add to pudding mixture then stir to combine.
- In a food processor or blender, process Oreos to fine crumbs. Spoon 1-1/2 cups cookie crumbs into the bottom of a large bowl. Top with 1/2 the pudding mixture followed by 1-1/2 cups cookie crumbs, the remaining pudding mixture, and then the remaining cookie crumbs. Chill for at least 1 hour then top with gummy worms and/or fake flowers before serving.
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
Aw, this is one of my childhood favorite desserts. My mom never made it, but it was at so many birthday parties I went to! Delicious!
I think my favorite summer treat is an ice cream cone. Now that I think about it, that’s my favorite winter treat too…
I love dirt cake! I only have it once in awhile but it’s so good! This seems extra good today because I just got home from biking 20 miles.
I love this flash back! And I love dirt cake! :)
I loved dirt pudding as a kid, but mainly for the worms! Loved my gummy candy :)
I love ice cream sandwiches or a banana slush!
It has literally been YEARS since I’ve had dirt cake and this looks seriously delicious. I just might have to whip up some of this real soon. {drooling!}
My boyfriend’s mom made it on Father’s Day, and she said the same thing about the Oreo packaging…her recipe from the ’80s called for a 20-ounce bag but they make them smaller now! We had it “worm-less” this time around lol
Try it with golden oreos. We call it sand in our family. It’s actually really good!
This made me so nostalgic! I loved dirt cake as a kid. I remember one party where it was actually served in clay flower pots! Thanks for sharing this recipe :)
I will be making this soon for my boys (ages 8 and 1)…one loves the dirt, one loves worms :)
I kept seeing “Diet Coke” instead of “Dirt Cake”. I had to re-read a few lines to make them make sense!
This is fun to take to a potluck in a sand bucket and serve it with a sand shovel. Although, I think the adults eat this just as much as the kids!
Call me crazy but I always love when there are a few big unprocessed cookie chunks in the pudding…
I’ve heard of another version called “Sand/Beach Cake” using Golden Oreos!
Hey, I got my Fitness magazine and you are honored as one of the best blogs. Congratulations!
My mom used to make this too! It was the craze! She would even serve it in a flower pot and stick a bunch of fake flowers in it! Yikes! But so yummy!
Who doesn’t love oreos?!? So making this for my husband :) He will love it!
Dirt Cake!! My mom made this for all of our parties growing up. She would put it in a flower pot — and then put fake flowers in the top. People would honestly think it was a plant!!!
Love this! One of my FAVORITE Foods EVER!!!!!!!!!!! :)
We used to make this but used chocolate pudding. We used vanilla with crushed vanilla wafers to top for a “beach” with little umbrellas and gummy fish to top it off, but as someone else mention golden oreos would be delish!
Yea, I remember it using chocolate pudding also. Sadly, due to a traumatic experience as a child I can not eat chocolate pudding without gagging…or vanilla for that matter. My walking pneumonia was cured with giant antibiotic pills that my parents would have to crush up and put into pudding for me to eat. NASTY!
My mother-in-law gave me this recipe, so I made it for her family Christmas celebration. The only thing I changed was presentation…I made it in a large trifle bowl instead of a 9×13 pan in her recipe. It was a huge hit!
This looks so good. FUN. I have never had it, but will make it. Looks like it would work well for Halloween too.
I loved dirt cake when I was a kid, but my daughter recently had me make it for her b’day and I was shocked at how overly sweet and rich it tasted. I couldn’t eat more than a few bites. She, on the other hand, loved it! I am always all about fruit in the summer and one of my all time favorites is this peach bar recipe: http://annies-eats.com/2010/08/23/peach-crumb-bars/ …. I try to make it at least once a summer, sometimes for my b’day.
Oh Lord LOL! We used to make these in the little cups for ourselves(aka the kids HAHA) at summer camp & just because LOL!! Yummy! My favorite summer sweet that I can remember has to be Nana Puddin or as we know it Banana Pudding LOL! Yum-O :-)
Perfect timing!
THIS is what I will make for the cookout I am going to and was asked to Bring a Dessert.
Thanks!
Oh this brings back memories of my childhood too! We made it at home a few times, but I remember always getting it at Bennigan’s back in the day off the kid’s menu. It was so good! This recipe looks even better though!
Have you ever had oreo balls? If you haven’t it consists of cream cheese, crushed up oreos, and melted white or regular chocolate…SO good! Be sure to try it if you haven’t already!
I love how you left this recipe just like it is :) Some things can’t be messed with!
So funny – I can remember my mother being so excited to serve this for one of my brother’s birthdays. Brings back such good memories! Thank you!
Hooray for no-bake desserts! Anything with crushed Oreos in it is a keeper in my book. I love how fun this is for kids too!
My first day of 3rd grade, our teacher passed out a flower pot with flowers to each student and had us keep them on our desks for awhile – she had all of us fooled! She eventually told us the flowers were fake and that wasn’t dirt in the pots – it was dirt cake! Finding the gummy worms in there was so much fun :)
OMG!!!!!!! droooooool worthy….LOVE UR BLOG!!!!!
Very very fun! This reminds me of when I was a kid.
oh my goodness… we used to have this at vacation bible school all the time. my mouth is watering!
And now I’ll be adding Oreos, cream cheese, and Cool Whip to my grocery list for the week:). Haven’t had dirt cake in for-EVER!
[…] Meanwhile get the Chipotle Cherry Salsa ready. THIS IS MY FAVORITE THING EVER!!! Ahem! That is to say, the smoky-sweet-tart combo of fresh cherries and chipotle peppers in adobo is simply genius. (Can we all please acknowledge the extra package of Oreos that Ben snuck into our cart this weekend! As if I didn’t have enough temptation on my hands!) […]
It’s decided… I’m making this for my office next week! Done :)
this reminds me of birthday parties circa 2000! loving it. total delicious nostalgia!
xo
http://allykayler.blogspot.ca/
[…] I do think part of healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle is occasionally splurging on things like Dirt Cake and Baked Beans, which is why I occasionally post indulgent recipes too. Willpower is not infinite, […]
I love simple recipes like this!! So much fun and perfect for family picnics and adorable twin nephews (mine!) to enjoy!
I made this for our get together this evening…my kids are DYING to try it!! I remember making this cake in preschool for a program, thanks for an AWESOME blast from the past! Hope my kids enjoy it as much as I did!! :) Happy 4th!
P.S. Dirt cake for the kids, beergaritas for the adults…I THINK SO!
Love desserts like this!!!!!
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[…] Dirt Cake. An amazing twist on the classic you grew up with! Your kids will go nuts for this one by Iowa Girl Eats. […]
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I make dirt cake and sand a lot. The only thing I have changed is not adding the powdered sugar and butter. I find it to be way too sweet.
all you really need is 8oz of cool whip and 2-3.9 packs of instant pudding that is vanilla or chocolat, 2 1/2 cups of milk and oreos
do it the easy way:)
Kristen, This recipe sounds wonderful, however, I really came upon it as I was looking for the recipe for WORMY CHOCOLATE CAKE. Maybe you could help me. My sweet Grandmother passed away when I was thirteen. She used to make this cake all the time. It was a really delicious yellow cake. After it cooled, she prepared a rich chocolate sauce on the stove top. She would use Hershey’s Cocoa, Milk, Sugar, Butter, Vanilla, and I am unsure of any other ingredients. She would bring it all to a boil, stirring it frequently. She would then take an ice pick & poke holes into the cake, on the top & sides. She would spoon the hot sauce into the side holes first, then into the top holes. After the cake completely cooled, we got to enjoy! It was heavenly. The chocolate ribbons/worms almost had a fudge candy texture to them. I have tried to make this cake many times. I have never been able to make it like my Grandmother did. If you ever come across a recipe that sounds anything like the cake I described, please send it to me. I would truly appreciate it!