This easy Dirt Cake recipe is a classic potluck dessert, and I’ve given it an Easter spin using chocolate bunnies instead of gummy worms! The creamy, whipped, cheesecake filling is topped with crushed chocolate cookies, and can be garnished for any occasion!
Why You’ll Love This Dirt Cake
- Nostalgia! There is something about a “Dirt Cake” that brings back all sorts of childhood memories. I mean what kid didn’t love that messy dessert, usually served in a casserole dish, small plastic glasses, or if you were lucky, individual terracotta pots, topped with crushed Oreos and gummy worms?
- No Bake! You won’t be turning on your oven for this quick and easy recipe. The prep time is super quick, about 15 minutes, and then just a little chill time in the fridge and you’re all set!
- The Filling! The filling of this cake is a mousse-like, whipped cheesecake. It’s gloriously creamy and paired with the layers of crushed Oreo cookies, it’s absolutely perfect!
- Adaptable! This doesn’t have to be a strictly Easter dessert. You can use various candies to decorate this dirt cake for all occasions, and you can even use different flavors of Oreo cookies and get creative!
Ingredients / What You Will Need
Make sure to scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full instruction list and recipe. You can even print it out too!
- Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches aka Oreo Cookies! You don’t need to use Double Stuf for this recipe, just the original cookie will work. You can even use Golden Oreos to change up the flavor profile entirely!
- Cream Cheese. You will need to make sure that the cream cheese is room temperature. If it is cold at all it won’t beat up smoothly and you will be left with a lumpy filling!
- Butter at room temperature. I use salted butter, but you can also use unsalted butter if you prefer.
- Powdered sugar. This will lightly sweeten the filling without it being too sweet. The Cool Whip and the Oreos add a lot of sweetness.
- Frozen Whipped Topping, like Cool Whip. Make sure you thaw it first. The best way to thaw Cool Whip is in the refrigerator for a few hours. This way it thaws evenly.
- Instant Pudding Mix. I like to use the White Chocolate flavor (because it’s delicious) but you can also use instant vanilla pudding mix which is always easy to find! Make sure to use Instant though!
- Milk. You can use 2%, whole milk or even skim milk in this recipe. Whatever you have on-hand will work fine!
How To Make Dirt Cake
This no-bake recipe is super easy, perfect for beginners, and even one that’s great to let your kids get involved in making too!
Create the base: Simply crush up your Oreo cookies and spread 2/3 of the crumbs into the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Set this aside.
Next whip together the cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar until it’s smooth. Then fold in the Cool Whip. This creates the whipped base to your filling.
In another both whisk together the instant pudding and the milk until it’s thickened. Fold the pudding mixture into the cream cheese mixture until it’s combined. Spread this on top of the crushed cookies in the pan and then top the whole thing with the remaining cookie crumbs.
How To Decorate Dirt Cake
You can use just about any candies to decorate dirt cake to suit your occasion. I love to serve this easy, no bake dessert recipe at Easter. It’s just such a cute use of chocolate bunnies. But there are tons of other ways to make this cute!
- Make It Classic: Use gummy worms instead of chocolate bunnies. This really makes it a classic dirt cake!
- For A Birthday Party: Use Cake Batter Oreos instead of chocolate, mix in some colorful sprinkles into the cream cheese mixture, and top with more sprinkles and birthday candles!
How To Serve Dirt Cake
- Make Them Individual: You can make this to serve 12 individual servings by dividing the portions into 12 clear plastic cups for an easy party dessert.
- Mini Flower Pots: This is an extra cute idea and perfect for a brunch or garden party! Use miniature terracotta pots for the dirt pudding cups! If you serve them in the pots, it’s super cute to place an artificial flower on top to decorate!
- In a Trifle Dish. You will need to use a large trifle dish for this and then make multiple layers of crushed cookies and pudding.
- Serve with a mini shovel! How cute would this be?
DIY TIP: How To Make Homemade Edible “Grass”
I find the edible green grass that I use on my cake at the craft store, or even Walmart or Target around the Easter holiday. But it’s super easy to make an alternate homemade version at home using sweetened flaked coconut when it’s not that time of year!
- To color shredded coconut, place coconut in a plastic bag, add a few drops of liquid green food coloring, secure bag closure. Shake until coconut is evenly colored.
- Alternately you can simply use green sprinkles or jimmies to replicate grass.
Can You Use Other Flavors of Pudding?
You can use whatever flavor pudding you would like. If you use Peanut Butter Oreos you could use instant chocolate pudding mix and top it with peanut butter cups for example! How delicious would that be? Just make sure whatever pudding mix you use is INSTANT PUDDING! Here are some other flavors that would be great:
- French Vanilla Pudding
- Pistachio Pudding. The green color would be so fun in a dirt cake!
- Cheesecake Flavored Pudding. Double down on the cheesecakeflavor with cheesecake pudding!
- Chocolate Pudding. An obvious choice!
Here Are More Easter Desserts You Might Like
Print
Easter Bunny Dirt Cake
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Chill Time: 3+ hours
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: serves 12 1x
- Category: Cake
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: Dessert
Description
This Dirt Cake has been made perfectly adorable for Easter with the addition of chocolate bunnies and chocolate eggs. Easily make it for any occasions using gummy worms or the decoration of your choice!
Ingredients
- 1 (19- ounce/48 cookies) package chocolate sandwich cookies (like Oreo)
- 1 (8- ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 (16- ounce) container whipped topping (like Cool Whip), thawed
- 2 (3.9- ounce) packages Instant White Chocolate or Vanilla Pudding
- 3 cups milk
- Decoration Ideas: Small chocolate bunny candies, Edible grass (homemade: shredded coconut + green food coloring) OR green sprinkles, jelly beans, chocolate eggs
Instructions
- Make the base: Crush 2/3 of the cookies, (filling and all), *see note. Place the crumbs into the bottom of a 9×13-inch dish. Set aside.
- Make the Filling: In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar, mixing for an additional minute until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Fold in the whipped topping and set aside.
- In a large bowl, vigorously whisk together the dry pudding mix and milk for 1-2 minutes until thickened. Gently stir the pudding into the cream cheese mixture until evenly incorporated.
- Spread the mixture on top of the crushed cookie base.
- Crush the remaining cookies and spread evenly over the top. Cover and chill for 3 hours, or overnight.
- When the dirt cake is completely chilled, decorate as desired.
- Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
Notes
*To crush the cookies you can use a food processor or blender. Or you can place the cookies in a large zip-top bag and use a rolling pin to crush.
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