This is quite literally the best OREO Dirt Cake recipe (OREO Dirt Pudding) on the internet. In just 15 minutes plus chill time, you can make this delicious dessert with yummy chocolate and cream OREO cookies layered with a rich, creamy custard.
What is dirt cake?
Dirt Cake is a classic all American dessert recipe, also called Dirt Pudding. It features layers of crushed OREO cookies and a thick, creamy custard that just melts in your mouth. It is often served with gummy worms on top (pictures below.)
No only is it a no bake dessert, but it is perfect to make ahead for entertaining or potlucks.
This recipe is very easy to make, in just 15 minutes you can have it ready to go. It does need to chill in the refrigerator at least two hours for the best taste though so plan ahead. I personally prefer to let it sit overnight so I try to make it the day before ideally.
Ingredients
- OREO cookies
- butter
- cream cheese
- powdered sugar
- milk
- French Vanilla pudding mix
- Cool Whip
Step by step
Step 1: Combine sugar, butter, and cream cheese
You can make the OREO dirt pudding mixture with either a hand mixer or stand mixer (affiliate link).
Combine softened cream cheese, softened butter, and powdered sugar and cream together in the mixer until combined.
Step 2: Make the pudding
In a separate large bowl whisk together the milk, pudding mix, and whipped cream as shown in photo 1 below.
As the mixture combines you will notice the whipped topping stays on the top like in photo 2 below.
Continue mixing until the mixture is completely uniform like photo 3 and a lovely buttery yellow color.
Pour the whipped cream mixture into the cream cheese mix as shown in photo 4 above and mix on medium speed until completely blended. The pudding will be thick and thicken further as it sits.
STYLING TIP: For a pretty presentation, set aside one OREO to top the dirt cake with after it’s finished!
Step 3: Crush OREOS
Use a food processor or blender (affiliate link) to crush the OREO cookies into fine crumbs as shown above.
You can also crush the OREOs by hand by placing them in a gallon size Ziploc bag, sealing it, and crushing with a rolling pin. (The kids love to help with this!)
Step 4: Layer the dirt pudding and OREOs
To layer in a trifle dish, you will need your pudding mix, cookie crumbs, a ladle, and two spoons-one for the cookies and one to spread the pudding.
Now it’s time to layer the dirt cake! I like to make this recipe in a trifle dish so you can see all the deliciousness! If you don’t have a trifle dish you can easily make it in a 9×13 pan, the layers will just be thinner.
How to make perfect layers in a trifle dish
Use a ladle to scoop about a cup of pudding mixture (photo 2) and plop it right down in the middle of your trifle dish.
Use the back of a spoon (photo 3 above) to push the pudding out from the middle to the edges of the dish.
TIP: If you are worried about smudges showing on the glass, use a paper towel to wipe them clean as you go as in step 4 above.
Sprinkle about ¼ inch layer of OREO crumbs over the pudding (step 1 above).
Continue layering the pudding adding new layers to the middle of the cookie layer (step 2) then gently pushing the pudding to the edges (step 3).
Add the pudding and OREO crumbs until it is gone, usually four layers of each.
TIP: For the prettiest layers always place the custard in the middle over the crumbs and push outward gently with the back of a spoon. Pat the top layer of OREO down with the back of a spoon as well (step 4 above).
Top with a whole OREO or gummy worms if desired.
Tips & Tricks
- Be sure to thoroughly soften the butter and cream cheese before creaming together to ensure your pudding layer turns out smooth.
- If your dirt cake turns out runny instead of thick, check to make sure you used INSTANT pudding, not traditional stovetop pudding.
- If you do not have a food processor or blender (affiliate link) to crush the OREOS, simply place them in a large gallon storage bag and crush with a rolling pin.
- You can eat the dirt cake right away but it tastes so much better if you let it chill to let the flavors blend. I recommend no less than 2 hours of chill time or preferably overnight.
- To achieve the pretty layers in a trifle dish, ladle the pudding mixture into the direct center of the dish then use the back of a spoon to gently push it towards the edges. Keep the spoon away from the crumbs so they don’t mix together.
Substitutions
- Milk: Use any milk for this recipe, I usually use 2%
- Pudding: For the very best results use Jello Instant French Vanilla pudding, regular vanilla can be used if necessary. Make sure it is INSTANT, not stovetop.
- Cool Whip: Any brand of whipped topping is fine, there is no difference between brands.
- OREOs: I have made this with both regular and double stuffed OREOs. If you use Double Stuff you may want to add a little more than one package so there is plenty of cookie in the dirt layers. I don’t suggestion off-brand sandwich cookies.
Serving suggestions
- I usually use a trifle dish so you can see all those delicious layers but you can also serve this in a 9 by 13 inch glass baking dish.
- My aunt always served her dirt cake in a plastic flower pot with gummy worms and fake flowers stuck in. It is a super cute, especially for kids.
- You can also serve it in clear plastic single serve cups like I did with these strawberry “carrots” for Easter.
For similar recipes try my Peanut Butter Dirt Cake Trifle, Mint OREO Truffles, or 3 Ingredient OREO Fudge.
Useful Tools:
If you’ve tried this recipe please comment and rate it below, I love hearing from you!
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Dirt Cake Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: dessert
- Method: none
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is quite literally the best Dirt Cake recipe on the internet. In just 15 minutes you can make this delicious dessert with yummy chocolate and cream OREO cookies layered with a rich, creamy custard.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup butter, softened
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 packages French Vanilla Jello INSTANT Pudding
- 3 ½ cups milk
- 8 oz container of Cool Whip
- 1 family size (1 lb 3 oz) package OREOS cookies
Instructions
- Cream together butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar in a large bowl until just blended. Do not over mix.
- In a separate large bowl whisk together pudding mix, milk, and Cool Whip.
- Add pudding mixture to the cream cheese mixture and mix until uniform.
- Crush Oreos into fine crumbs using a food processor or blender (affiliate link).
- Use a ladle to scoop about 1-1 ¼ cups pudding mix into the center of a trifle dish. Push to the edges with the back of a spoon.
- Use a large spoon to cover pudding with about ¼ inch of OREO crumbs.
- Repeat layers until done, about 4 layers of each. Tap final OREO layer into the top of the dirt cake with the back of a spoon.
- For best results, chill at least two hours before serving.
Notes
- Be sure to thoroughly soften the butter and cream cheese before creaming together to ensure your pudding layer turns out smooth.
- If your dirt cake turns out runny instead of thick, check to make sure you used INSTANT pudding, not traditional stovetop pudding.
- If you do not have a food processor or blender to crush the OREOS, simply place them in a large gallon storage bag and crush with a rolling pin.
- You can eat the dirt cake right away but it tastes so much better if you let it chill to let the flavors blend. I recommend no less than 2 hours of chill time or preferably overnight.
- To achieve the pretty layers in a trifle dish, ladle the pudding mixture into the direct center of the dish then use the back of a spoon to gently push it towards the edges. Keep the spoon away from the crumbs so they don’t mix together.
Keywords: oreo dirt cake, dirt cake
This post was originally published in August of 2012 and updated May 2019 with new photos and additional details.
Im just curious, can you use regular sugar instead of powdered sugar?
I wouldn’t use regular granulated sugar if I were you. it won’t dissolve and I’ll make the cream cheese frosting that you mix with everything else grainy.
How many does this recipe typically serve?
About a dozen depending on serving size!
Quick question.. if I chill this before layering, will the pudding layer be too thick to use with a piping bag? I’m going to be making the pudding a day ahead of time, and then layering the morning I need it so the Oreos don’t get soft. Thanks!
I really love this cake recipe. And you have made it with cream cheese icing, it’s really going to be awesome in taste.You have really done a nice job. As you have shared the best things for me. Even this recipes can be made in busy time also. It’s really special for me. thanks for sharing it here on this site.
Made this for a Halloween party I have for my niece & nephew & it turned out great. I used instant chocolate pudding instead of vanilla. We used Vienna finger cookies for tombstones & wrote RIP on them & put them in the pudding to look like a graveyard. This recipe is a keeper!
Such a cute idea, I may have to try that next year!!
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I just made this today for the first time and I can’t for the life of me fathom how people are getting a soupy result out of this. Some people, I think, just need to stay out of the kitchen! Happy Thanksgiving!!
I love this recipe! Would it be just as yummy with chocolate pudding instead of vanilla, I wonder?
Thanks for sharing this !
I’ve had readers make it will all sorts of different variations in both the pudding flavor and OREO flavor-I don’t think you can go wrong Resep! ~Melissa
I was living in Japan without an oven, but wanted to make a crowd-pleasing American dessert. I remembered loving dirt cake at birthdays as a kid and decided to try making it. I found your recipe, which is indeed wonderful, but did not have access to cool whip. Instead, I made homemade whipped cream (by hand since I had no blender/mixer). It worked out really really well.
nice, i like it.
thanks melisha for cakes recipes,… i can feel this recipes so easy to try..
thanks so much melisha.. you are great 🙂
This recipe isn’t that good. Little to no flavor of the pudding mixture.
So sorry you didn’t enjoy it Katie, I haven’t had anyone complain of that before, I actually love the flavor of the pudding layer-did you change the ingredients at all? I’m curious what went wrong…
Hi, this is probably a stupid question, but what size trifle dish do I need for this recipe? Thank you.
Mine is a 3 quart dish Brandi!
So…just to clarify- I don’t need to boil the instant pudding powder/milk ahead of time? I’m just adding the powdery packets along with 3.5 cups milk and cool whip? I’ve tried both ways…the second time not doing any boiling-but it seemed super soupy (hoping as it chills it all thicken up) Then I started reading all the comments. But maybe the recipe could read “whisk pudding powder mix” for those that are confused like me 🙂
I’ll make that clarification Heidi. You don’t do anything with the instant pudding mix but whisk it into the milk and cool whip. It does thicken quite quickly when it chills-I just made this again for my husband’s military promotion party this past week!
wow…. it’s look heavenly delicious <3
My goodness that sounds amazing. I bet the flavor was fantastic.
It’s my absolute favorite dessert Rachel, let me know if you try it what you think!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I cannot wait to try it! I may have missed it, but do you have an idea of how many it will serve? I think I need to double the recipe but wanted to check if you had a guesstimate. Thank you!
It serves 8 Amanda!
Dark cake is my favorite along. I will try to make this. Thanks for sharing.
Such a fun recipe! Love the gummy worms!
Please specify measurement amounts of packages. It is helpful for overseas readers and also, over time, packaging may change.