CPA: Certified Pastry Aficionado

Cup of Dirt Pudding

dessert· Fall Flavors

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Cup of Dirt Pudding – Homemade milk chocolate pudding is topped with gummy worms and crushed Oreos to simulate a cup of dirt.

angled view of cup of dirt pudding

As my kids get older, I get more and more excited to introduce them to the foods I used to love as a child. The newest one to enter the fold is this Cup of Dirt Pudding. My sister and I used to order this dessert at a restaurant we would visit and we both loved it. Smooth chocolate pudding, Oreo cookies on top, with gummy worms hidden inside – how could you not love it?!

To make this for my kids, I decided to make the pudding from scratch. It’s super simple and is much more flavorful than the boxed instant stuff. I made sure it wasn’t too rich by using milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet or dark chocolate.

Here is my Cup of Dirt Pudding!

overhead shot of cup of dirt pudding cups
photo of cup of dirt pudding from the side to show all the layers
spoonful of pudding and worms

Making the pudding

Homemade pudding is so easy that you’ll wonder why the instant stuff even exists. The main steps of making pudding are:

  1. Heat milk
  2. Add to dry ingredients
  3. Mix everything together and heat until thick

We take a few detours of these easy steps to ensure the dry ingredients don’t clump together and make the pudding all lumpy.

Once the pudding is thick, it’s cooled slightly before distributing among 6 cups and chilling in the fridge.

Finishing off the pudding

Right before serving, the pudding cups are topped with 4 gummy worms each and crush Oreos over the top to make it seem like the worms are hiding. You can even stick the forms deep in the pudding to hide them even better.

spoonful of pudding taken from the side to show cup in the background

Tips & Tricks

  1. Don’t boil the milk. If the milk boils, it could burn and even curdle. So it’s safe to just bring the milk to a scalding temperature right before it starts to boil.
  2. Pudding thickens FAST. Once the cornstarch mixes with the hot milk, it will start to thicken up. It will only take about 1 minute for the pudding to get to the desired texture so watch it closely.
  3. Top with “dirt” before serving. Make sure you only add the toppings right before serving. If you add them to the pudding and then refrigerate the pudding, the Oreos will soften and the worms will get really firm.
Print Recipe

Cup of Dirt Pudding

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Cooling time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 25 minutes
Servings: 6 cups

Ingredients

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup salt
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 7 ounces milk chocolate chips
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 24 gummy worms
  • 6 Oreo cookies

Instructions

  • Place milk in a 3 quart sauce pan and set over medium heat so that it starts to scald, but not boil. In the meantime, add cocoa, sugar, and salt to a medium bowl and whisk together. Add cream and cornstarch to a 2-cup measuring cup and whisk together.
  • Once milk is scalding, turn off heat. Add ¾ of the milk to the heavy cream mixture. Whisk together to loosen up any clumps of cornstarch. Then, add to cocoa mixture and whisk together until smooth. Add to the rest of the milk in the sauce pan and set back over medium heat.
  • Stir pudding occassionaly as it heats up and thickens. Once it starts to bubble, whisk to thicken it up. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and let it sit for 5 minutes so the chocolate can melt. Stir together with vanilla extract. Let it cool to room temperature and then scoop into 6 cups. Chill pudding for about an hour.
  • When ready to serve, top each pudding cup with 4 gummy worms. Then, crush the Oreos and top each pudding cup with a couple tablespoons of crushed Oreos. Serve immediately.

Notes

Pudding recipe adapted from Fine Cooking

Pin for later:

collage of cup of dirt photos with descriptive text

More recipes you’ll love:

Coconut Banana Pudding
a spoon scooping out coconut banana pudding from a glass dish with more cups of pudding bananas with the background and toasted coconut sprinkled around, shot from a side angle
Chocolate Strawberry Parfaits
chocolate strawberry parfaits on platter dusted with cocoa powder
Chocolate Cream Pie
a slice of chocolate cream pie with a bite out of it on a plate with more pie in the background, shot from the front

Comments

  1. serena2087 says

    To make this for my kids, I decided to make the pudding from scratch. It’s super simple and is much more flavorful than the boxed instant stuff. I made sure it wasn’t too rich by using milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet or dark chocolate waffle game free .

    Reply

  2. koralive says

    What a fun and creative dessert idea! The “Cup of Dirt” pudding is playful, nostalgic, and presents beautifully. You’ve laid out the steps clearly and the photos make it easy to follow. Thanks for sharing this sweet and imaginative recipe!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

holiday favorite