These homemade chocolate pudding dirt cups are so fun and easy to make. Chocolate dirt cups are individually layered with an easy to make homemade chocolate pudding and crushed Oreos, topped with gummy worms or your candy of choice! From scratch chocolate pudding is layered with crushed Double Stuf Oreos to make these dirt cup desserts extra special!
Why You'll Love these Dirt Cups
- A fun dessert for any occasion! Chocolate dirt cups are probably one of the most perfect Halloween desserts to please a variety of ages, but these dirt cups can and should be made any time of year! They would be great for an Earth Day event or a science class about the environment. Making these dirt cups would also be a fun and tasty rainy day activity with your kids! Top with themed candies or sprinkles or omit the extras and serve them as Oreo chocolate pudding trifles. These individual plastic pudding cups with lids make assembling, storing, and serving so easy!
- They are made in advance! Dirt cups need to be made ahead to allow for chilling time which makes them super convenient to prep before Halloween parties or gatherings. Make the pudding the day before stored in the refrigerator overnight and top with the candy just prior to serving for best results. (Gummy worms can firm up in the fridge so to avoid this, I'd recommend not topping with the gummies until you plan to serve the pudding).
- Everyone love them! With the Double Stuf Oreo "dirt" and gummy worms coming out of said dirt, these are sure to please the kiddos. The adults love these just as much with their rich chocolate pudding flavor combined with yummy crushed Oreos that soften a bit in the pudding to truly melt in your mouth.
- Alternate serving option: You could also layer the chocolate pudding in a dish with thawed spreadable cool whip or homemade whipped cream layered on top sprinkled with Oreo crumbs for a scoopable pudding dessert dish! The options are endless!
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Be sure to check out more Halloween recipes here. These Halloween Chocolate Oreo truffles are another simple and easy to make Halloween dessert!
Dirt Cup Ingredients
- semi-sweet chocolate chips
- natural cocoa powder
- granulated cane sugar
- cornstarch
- whole milk
- fine sea salt
- vanilla extract
- Double Stuf Oreos
- gummy worms, sour gummy worms, or dye free gummy worms
How To Make Dirt Cups
Making homemade chocolate pudding really just requires whisking! It is quite easy to make and you'll find many pudding variations online. Pudding is a mixture that uses cornstarch heated to thicken into the desired texture.
If you find your pudding not thickening enough, it is likely that you did not heat the mixture hot enough to a gentle boil and cook it for a few minutes. This helps activate the cornstarch to form the pudding. The pudding will thicken as it cools.
I enjoy the rich chocolate flavor in this version of homemade chocolate pudding because it uses chocolate chips AND cocoa powder together to really amplify the chocolate and provide an amazing thick creamy texture.
- Step 1: Combine the cocoa powder, sugar, cornstarch, chocolate chips, and salt in a large tall pot. Whisk together and turn the heat on medium heat.
- Step 2: Slowly stream in the cold milk while whisking at the same time to avoid clumping. Once all of the milk is poured in, whisk every 30-60 seconds to ensure the pudding mixture is being combined while the ingredients melt together. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan so that the chocolate chips do not stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Step 3: Bring the pudding mixture to a gentle boil. You may need to increase the heat to get it to temperature. Allow the mixture to gently boil for 2-3 minutes while whisking every 10 seconds or nearly consistently.
- Step 4: The pudding will begin to thicken up, cook for another minute longer before removing from the heat to make sure the cornstarch gets activated. Pour cooked pudding into a heat proof bowl.
5. Step 5: Allow pudding to cool at room temperature for 10 minutes before covering directly with plastic wrap and moving to the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours. It's very important to cover the pudding with plastic wrap touching the surface of the pudding to avoid a skin layer from forming on top.
6. Step 6: Once the pudding has cooled and thickened in the refrigerator, using a food processor or a rolling pin and a gallon plastic bag, crush the Oreos into fine crumbly pieces.
7. Step 7: To assemble the dirt cups, use 6-8 ounce cups with lids. Add in a few tablespoons or ¼ cup of pudding, then 2 tablespoons of crushed Oreo crumbs, followed by another ¼ cup of pudding, topped with another layer of Oreo cookie crumbs. Place lid on the pudding cup and store in the refrigerator until ready to eat!
8. Step 8: When ready to serve, add 3 gummy worms on top of each cup so that it appears they are coming out of the "dirt". Pudding should be served cold and stored in the refrigerator until ready to eat.
Substitutions
- Use instant pudding mix instead of homemade pudding: Homemade from scratch chocolate pudding makes these Oreo dirt cups super rich and chocolatey flavor with a thick creamy texture. Alternatively, you can make these with instant chocolate pudding mix to save on time or if you prefer not to use your stove. Be sure to follow the package instructions instead if using instant pudding mix. The one benefit to using instant pudding mix is there is no cooling time and you can simply layer the dirt cups right away. Sometimes, this is the way to go if the kids want to help make the pudding as well. I tend to prefer to make the homemade chocolate pudding version instead ahead of time and then let the kids help with the assembling of the dirt cups!
- Use regular Oreos instead of Double Stuf if you are not a fan of the the filling inside Oreos. If you want the "dirt" to be more of a crushed chocolate sand texture, then use regular Oreos and remove the filling before crushing the chocolate cookies into a fine texture. This recipe calls for crushed whole Double Stuf Oreos because we prefer the cookies and cream flavor that the crushed whole Oreos provides. You could also use different flavors of Oreos. The options are endless!
- If you don't like Oreos, use chocolate cake! Add in a thin layer of chocolate cake between the pudding layers OR use chocolate cake crumbs as the "dirt" layers.
- Use different chocolate chips or cocoa powder: You could swap the semi-sweet chocolate chips in this recipe for milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips. You can also use dutch processed cocoa powder for a darker rich chocolate or stick with the natural cocoa powder if you prefer a lighter more traditional chocolate pudding flavor. When making these for kids, I tend to stick to either semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips and natural cocoa powder.
- For a Halloween themed dessert, you can do different types of themes by switching out the Halloween candies.
- For traditional dirt cups, use gummy worms or sour gummy worms (pictured). Here's a dye free gummy worm option as well!
- For a pumpkin patch, use Mellowcreme pumpkins! For a spooky graveyard theme, use Mellowcreme graveyard candies!
- Use marshmallow Halloween peeps as toppers instead of candies! Or you could also add Halloween sprinkles on top.
How To Serve and Store Dirt Cups
Chocolate pudding dirt cups need to be stored chilled in the refrigerator and they should be served cold.
I do not recommend freezing these as pudding in general does not freeze well. These chocolate pudding dirt cups are best stored in the refrigerator and enjoyed within 3 days.
Hold off on adding the gummy worms on top until you are ready to serve the pudding. This ensures the gummy worms do not firm up too much.
You can layer the pudding and crushed Oreos along with some homemade whipped cream or cool whip into a trifle dish for a scoopable dessert, or to make these individual dirt cups (pictured), you will need individual plastic dessert serving containers with lids. I find using dessert cups are the easiest mess-free way to serve individually!
More Chocolate recipes
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Homemade Chocolate Pudding Oreo Dirt Cups
Equipment
- large/tall pot
- large heat proof bowl
- plastic wrap
- whisk
Ingredients
- ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1¼ cups granulated cane sugar
- 6 Tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 5 cups whole milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 25 Double Stuf Oreos (or any kind of crunchy cookies you'd like. Remove the filling before crushing the cookies if you are wanting more of a fine crumb "dirt". If you want more cookies n' cream flavor, use Double Stuf Oreos and crush the cookies whole including the filling.)
- 24 gummy worms
Instructions
- Combine the cocoa powder, sugar, cornstarch, chocolate chips, and salt in a large tall pot. Whisk together and turn the heat on medium heat.¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1¼ cups granulated cane sugar, 6 Tablespoons cornstarch, ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- Slowly stream in the cold milk while whisking at the same time to avoid clumping. Once all of the milk is poured in, whisk every 30-60 seconds to ensure the pudding mixture is being combined while the ingredients melt together.Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan so that the chocolate chips do not stick to the bottom of the pot.5 cups whole milk
- Bring the pudding mixture to a gentle boil. You may need to increase the heat to get it to temperature. Allow the mixture to gently boil for 2-3 minutes while whisking every 10 seconds or nearly consistently. Add in the vanilla extract and whisk to combine.2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- The pudding will begin to thicken up*, cook for another minute longer before removing from the heat. Pudding should leave a thick layer on the back of a spoon and drip off in thick drops but not pour off. If pudding is still not thick enough, continue to cook on a gentle boil for a little bit longer whisking continuously. Whisk should form streaks in the pudding. Pour cooked pudding into a heat proof bowl.
- Allow pudding to cool at room temperature for 10 minutes before covering directly with plastic wrap and moving to the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours. It's very important to cover the pudding with plastic wrap touching the surface of the pudding to avoid a skin layer from forming on top
- Once the pudding has cooled and thickened in the refrigerator, using a food processor, pulse the cookies into fine crumbs leaving some chunks throughout (if desired). Alternatively, you can place the Oreos in a gallon plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin or your hands into fine crumbly pieces.25 Double Stuf Oreos
- To assemble the dirt cups, use 6-8 ounce cups with lids. Add in a few tablespoons or ¼ cup of pudding, then 2 tablespoons of crushed Oreo crumbs, followed by another ¼ cup of pudding, topped with another layer of Oreo cookie crumbs. Place lid on the pudding cups and store in the refrigerator until ready to eat!
- When ready to serve, add 3 gummy worms on top of each cup so that it appears they are coming out of the "dirt". Pudding should be served cold and stored in the refrigerator until ready to eat. Best enjoyed within 3 days.24 gummy worms
Notes
- *If you find your pudding not thickening enough, it is likely that you did not heat the mixture hot enough to a gentle boil and cook it for a few minutes. This helps activate the cornstarch to form the pudding. The pudding will thicken as it cools in the refrigerator as well. If the pudding is still not thick enough after at least 4 hours of chilling, you can place it back on the stove and bring to a gentle boil mixing in another 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch slurry. Be sure to make a slurry by combining equal parts cornstarch and water mixed together before adding to the pudding.
- Whole milk is the only milk that was used to test this recipe. I would not recommend using other milks as it will not be thick enough and require a lot more cornstarch.
- I always fill all of my blog posts with lots of tips and tricks to ensure your dessert turns out amazing. If you run into trouble, please search the entire post for helpful information!
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