Our Healthy Dirt cake, features Oreos, Greek yogurt, pudding mix, and whipped topping. It’s a simple dessert recipe that kids love! It can easily be made gluten-free too!
Today, I am sharing my absolute FAVORITE dirt pudding recipe!
Oreo dirt pudding is traditionally made with a cream cheese mixture. However, we put a healthy twist on the traditional recipe for your family to enjoy, making it a healthy dessert recipe. Our dirt cake has the same decadent flavor without the cream cheese, butter, or powdered sugar!
I typically make this dirt dessert recipe during the summer, if you haven’t tried it with gummy worms, it’s really cute for little kids. However, my husband recently requested this recipe, so I decided to give it a different spin for Valentine’s Day. Swap Valentine’s Day sprinkles for other Festive sprinkles and use this easy dessert idea all year long.
Swap out the sprinkles for whatever holiday you’re celebrating or skip them altogether.
- St. Patrick’s Day
- 4th of July
- Halloween
- Christmas
HOW TO MAKE
- Crush Oreo cookies into a gallon sized ziplock bag.
- Add Festive sprinkles to crushed Oreos, zip bag shut, and use your hands to blend the sprinkles in.
- In a large bowl, add plain Greek yogurt, milk and dry pudding mix. Whisk about 2 minutes, or until thickened.
- Add whipped topping. Stir until well blended into pudding mixture.
- In a 9×9 inch pan or individual cups, start layering the crushed Oreo mixture on the bottom, then the pudding mixture then Oreo mixture until pan or cups are filled.
- Top with additional sprinkles if desired.
SHOULD I MAKE MY DIRT DESSERT AS A LAYER CAKE OR INDIVIDUAL CUPS?
Trust me when I say that answering that question will be the hardest step when making this recipe…
Layer Cake – I suggest turning your dirty pudding into a layer cake for potlucks, family reunions, work socials or events with a larger number of people to save you time & effort.
Individual Portions – I suggest splitting your dessert into individual portions for special events like birthday parties or holiday socials to add an extra special touch to the day.
Just remember that no matter what you decide, this dessert recipe is a crowd pleaser!
KITCHEN TIP: Using disposable cups or a cake pan will save you from a large mountain of dishes at the end of the event.
This easy dessert idea is perfect for kids to make, so get your kids in the kitchen helping you make this yummy treat.
Your kids will LOVE crushing the Oreos, mixing in the sprinkles & adding the layers to a dish.
Kitchen Tip: a can of vegetables, a water bottle or a tall drinking glass are great rolling pin substitutions if you don’t have one laying around at home.
Substitutions
- Chocolate chips
- Gummy worms
- Peanut butter
- Cinnamon
- Peppermint bits
- Graham cracker crumbs
The combination of Greek yogurt, skim milk and whipped topping creates a creamy texture that will have you taking more than one bite & even serving seconds!
WHAT ARE MY PUDDING FLAVOR OPTIONS?
Between vanilla, chocolate, banana & the other numerous flavors available, the possibilities are almost endless when it comes to buying instant pudding!
I recommend picking a flavor depending on the event and personal preference since these Oreo dirt pudding cups can be served at any event during the year.
If you are feeling adventurous, you could even make your own DIY Homemade Instant Pudding Mix!
HOW MANY LAYERS DO I ADD?
Another reason that this recipe is a top favorite is you can’t mess it up when it comes time to add the layers to your dish.
I suggest starting with cookies on the bottom of the dish, adding a generous layer of the pudding & continuing to repeat those layers until you reach the very top of the dish.
Usually, I add 2 layers of cookies with 2 layers of the pudding mixture to my dirt cups and 2 layers of cookies with 1 layer of the pudding mixture to my dirt cake.
Using a spatula to spread the pudding mixture over the top of the cookies will make your life much easier.
Pro Tip: Add a generous dollop of pudding mixture in the center of your pan and then spread from the middle out to the edges to keep your cookies from mixing into the pudding.
Once you finish the final layer, add a few more sprinkles (or your favorite topping) to the top. This extra touch will make you look like a professional chef!
Now, go find a spoon ASAP!
If you are in a dessert-making mood, my Easy Chocolate Fudge, Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies and Chocolate Bark with Pistachios are recipes to add to your menu within the next few weeks.
Gluten-Free Guide: If you’re new to eating gluten-free we understand it’s overwhelming trying to figure out which foods may contain gluten and which ones don’t. All of our gluten-free recipes marked with this symbol ✅ represent foods that need to be checked for gluten.
If you enjoyed this recipe, make sure to leave a comment and a star rating below! Then follow me on social media and tag #createkidsclub if you make the recipe. I love seeing what you come up with!
Healthy Dirt Cake
Ingredients
- 14.3 ounce package gluten-free Oreo Cookies
- 12 ounce container lite Cool Whip ✅
- 3.4 ounce packet instant pudding and pie mix ✅
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 cup milk such as 1%
- Optional: 1/3 cup Valentines Day Sprinkles or other Festive Holiday Sprinkles ✅
Instructions
- Place Oreos into a gallon sized ziplock bag. Use rolling pin or kitchen mallet to crush the cookies.
- Add sprinkles to crushed Oreos, zip bag shut, and use your hands to blend the sprinkles in. Skip this step if you prefer to make dirt cups without sprinkles. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add plain Greek yogurt, milk, and dry pudding mix. Whisk about 2 minutes, or until thickened.
- Add whipped topping. Stir until well blended into the pudding mixture.
- In a 9 x 9 inch pan, or individual cups, start layering the crushed Oreo mixture on the bottom, then the pudding mixture, then Oreo mixture.
- Top with additional sprinkles if desired.
Kari says
I was looking for a classroom treat for Valentine’s Day and came across this one. I love that there is no cream cheese. Thanks for the yummy idea.