Halloween Dirt Cups – Pumpkin Patch Pudding Dirt Cup Dessert

These fun Halloween dirt cups will delight your kids in a spooky kind of way. They are super easy to make and would be fun to have on any Halloween party table.

I love this time of the year. It lets me be a kid again with the experience of making fun themed Halloween desserts.

Your children will love the spookiness of this fun dessert. It’s as much fun to assemble this dirt cup for Halloween as it is to eat. 

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October 31 will soon be here and it’s not just Halloween, but also Carve a Pumpkin Day. We’ll be carving our pumpkin soon and need a snack for the occasion.

The kids will love knowing that they took part in making dessert for dinner tonight! Show them how to make easy RIP tombstone cookies to add to the dessert.

Let them add some Dollar Store props to the table for a cool graveyard scene. Imagine the delight?

This recipe could not be easier to make and is sure to please both young and young at heart.

What is a dirt cup?

Dirt cups are a fun dessert that is made with chocolate pudding, and crushed Oreo cookies to give the impression of the diner eating a cup of dirt. By adding fun gummy worms and fall pumpkins to the top of the dessert, you can transform it into a whimsical Halloween dessert.

This dessert is the perfect way to let the kids join in with making holiday treats. Since there is no baking or heating necessary, and the decorating is easy, even  the youngest kids can take part. 

They are sure to be a hit. After all, what child can resist gummy worms?

I’ve adapted this recipe for different holidays using items that are symbolic for each one. For Thanksgiving I created these darling teepee dirt cups. There is also a Christmas dirt cup version using waffle cones as Christmas trees.

I have posts about the symbols of each holiday. For Christmas, check out the traditions of Christmas greenery. For Thanksgiving, read about the six main symbols of Thanksgiving. For Halloween, learn about the history of Samhain traditions.

Grab your Oreos and a food processor. It's time to make some Halloween dirt cups with gummy worm topping for Halloween. See the tutorial on Always the Holidays.🍮 Click To Tweet

How to make a dirt cup for Halloween

This can be a hectic time of the year, so a dessert like these dirt and worm cups that use just a few ingredients and is no bake are a hit with busy moms.

Gather your ingredients and let’s get spooky!

• Oreo cookies (or any chocolate wafer cookie)
• Jello instant chocolate pudding mix
• Milk
• Candy Pumpkins – either sour or sweet. I made a a few batches and used both types
• Plastic cups (I got mine at the Dollar store)

Start by making your pudding mix. I used a fat free sugar free pudding mix and skim milk to make my dirt cups.  I just whisked it for about five minutes until it was thick and set it aside.

The next step is to remove the center icing from the cookies with a sharp knife. The cookies will be making the dirt layer and you want it to be dry, not moist.

Place the Oreo wafers in a food processor and pulse them for a few minutes until you get a crumb like appearance that looks like dirt. (it really does – the kids will be saying “ewwww” by now!)

Assembling the pumpkin patch pudding cups

Place a layer of the crumbs into the bottom of a small plastic cup, then add some chocolate pudding on top of the crumbs.

Add a top layer of crumbs to complete the dirt part. Looks appetizing – NOT! I guarantee you, it does takes great though!

Finally, add a few candy pumpkins and some gummy worms to the top of the dirt cup. What a fun spooky look!

That’s all there is to these Halloween dirt cups. They have a whimsical look, a creamy center and a crumb top and bottom for great texture when eating them.

There are lots of other ways to decorate these Halloween dirt cups. Take some sandwich cookies and pipe chocolate frosting with the letters RIP.

Add a faux coffin and some fall leaves and you have the perfect graveyard scene for your dessert table for Halloween.

Or add some peep ghosts, marshmallow Frankenstein characters or black cat figures along with the worms. The sky is the limit for a spooky look.

These cups are customizable as to the amount of pudding vs dirt. If you don’t want as much “dirt” just add more pudding. Not a fan of candy corn? Just add more gummy worms.

The kids will love knowing they can make their pudding cups any way they like!

You could even make a fun graveyard picket fence using craft sticks and place your dirt cups inside for a neat table centerpiece. Your Halloween party guests would love this!

Admin note: This post first appeared on the blog in September of 2017. I have updated the post with all new photos, a printable recipe card and a video for you to enjoy.

Pin this Halloween dirt cups recipe for later

Would you like a reminder of this pumpkin patch pudding dirt cup dessert? Just pin this image to one of your Halloween boards on Pinterest so that you can easily find it later.

Yield: 8

Halloween Dirt Cups - Pumpkin Patch Pudding Dessert

Print

These fun Halloween dirt cups will delight your kids in a spooky kind of way. They are super easy to make and would be fun to have on a Halloween party table.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1.5 ounces of fat free sugar free chocolate pudding mix
• 3 cups skim milk
• 45 Oreo cookies without the filling 
• 8 Candy pumpkins
• 8 Gummy worms
• optional: Milano cookies and Chocolate frosting
• Optional: Ghost Peeps

Instructions

1. Place the pudding mix and milk in a bowl and whisk until it is thick. Set aside.
2. Remove the frosting from the center of the Oreo cookies with a knife. .
3. Place the cookie pieces in food processor and pulse until they are crumbly.
4. Place a thin layer of crushed cookie crumbs into the bottom of each plastic cup.
5. Place a couple of spoonfuls of the chocolate pudding into each cup, so that the cups are about 2/3 full. Smooth the top of the pudding with a spoon.
6. Add another thin layer of cookie crumbs on top of the pudding.
7. Position 2 of candy pumpkins and a gummy worm on the top of the pudding cups.
8. Enjoy

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1 cup
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 234Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 311mgCarbohydrates: 67gFiber: 1gSugar: 43gProtein: 5g

Nutritional information is approximate due to natural variation in ingredients and the cook-at-home nature of our meals.

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