Dirt Cake Cookies

A bite taken out of a chocolate frosting topped Dirt Cake Cookie with a garnish of Oreo crumbs and a gummy worm.

These delicious dirt cake cookies are made with a soft Oreo and black cocoa based cookie then topped with a rich chocolate pudding frosting. It wouldn't be a true "dirt cake" style dessert without some Oreo crumbs on top and a gummy worm!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 10

Total Time 50

Servings cookies

Calories 617kcal

Author Whitney Wright

Equipment

Ingredients

Oreo Cookie Base

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar packed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour about 450 grams
1 cup black cocoa powder
3 1/4 cups Oreo crumbs divided, don't remove the white filling, crush the entire oreo (I used regular, not double stuf)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Chocolate Pudding Frosting

3.9 oz INSTANT chocolate pudding
2 cups heavy cream cold
1/3 cup 2% milk cold
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Toppings

gummy worms
Oreo crumbs

Instructions

Oreo Cookie Base

Preheat oven to 365°F. line baking sheet with parchment, set aside.
In bowl of a stand mixer cream the butter, brown sugar, and sugar on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Add the flour, black cocoa powder, 2 ½ cups Oreo crumbs, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix to combine.
Portion the dough into 1/4 cup sized balls. Roll each ball in the remaining ¾ cup of crushed Oreo crumbs. Place 6 balls of dough on the baking sheet. Using the palm of your hand, press down on each cookie dough ball just slightly. Bake for 10 -12 minutes, the edges will appear set but the centers should appear soft.
Remove from oven; some cookies may have uneven edges. To fix this, use a very large round biscuit cutter or cookie cutter and immediately after removing the cookies from the oven, gently use the cutter in a circular motion around the cookies to tuck in the edges (think hula hoop motion). We don’t want to cut the cookie. We just want to make the cookies uniformly circle before they set.
Remove from the oven and let cool on pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Pudding Frosting

In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment) add the dry chocolate instant pudding mix, heavy cream, milk, powdered sugar, Dutch process cocoa powder, and vanilla extract. Using a hand mixer, mix until smooth and thickened, about 1 minute. The mousse can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days.

Assembly

When ready to assemble transfer the frosting to a pastry bag (or a ziplock bag with the edge snipped off) and pipe the mousse on top of each cookie. Sprinkle oreo crumbs and a gummy worm on top of the mousse. Enjoy cookies chilled or around room temperature. Leftover cookies should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Video

Notes

Store the chocolate pudding frosting in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

If any of the cookies have the pudding frosting on top, they should be refrigerated. The plain Oreo cookies can be stored at room temperature.

Nutrition