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Oreo Dirt Cake

With a creamy pudding center and an Oreo crust and topping, this no bake Oreo Dirt Cake is always a hit with young and old alike. Only a few ingredients (and very little effort) required!

A DELICIOUS NO BAKE DESSERT!

Oreo Dirt Cake is an easy and delicious soft set dessert that’s perfect for any occasion! It’s a classic no-bake treat made with layers of Oreo cookies, vanilla pudding with cream cheese and Cool Whip, and topped with more crushed Oreo cookies! It is so easy to make and is the perfect dessert to satisfy that sweet tooth!

A spoon dipping into a slice of Oreo Dirt Cake.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Can I use different pudding flavors?

Sure. Mix up the flavors and use white chocolate, cheesecake, chocolate, coconut, etc pudding mixes instead! It is very easy to switch it up.

Can I use other flavors of Oreo cookies?

Yes, Golden Oreos would be fun as well. I think you could really use just about any flavor of Oreo Cookie with this recipe so change up the flavors.

What if I don’t have a food processor?

No worries. If you don’t have a food processor, just toss the cookies in a ziptop bag and pound the bag with a rolling pin or other similar sized object until they’r finely crushed..

How to store an Oreo Dirt Cake?

This cake HAS to be refrigerated when you aren’t serving it. It should keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Can I freeze Oreo Dirt Cake?

It is delicious frozen and might be my favorite way to serve it. It makes it more like an ice cream cake. Just let it sit out for maybe about 10-15 minutes before slicing and serving.

A piece of Oreo Dirt Cake on a plate with a bite missing.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)

  • instant vanilla pudding mix– be sure to grab instant pudding mix, not the cook and serve or it won’t set properly. Cook and serve needs to be heated to set up so please look at the boxes carefully since they tend to be right next to each other on store shelves.
  • cold milk – you need cold milk for the pudding to set up. I use whole milk but 2% will work fine.
  • Oreo cookies – I just used the standard Oreo Cookie. You could probably use Double Stuft but I haven’t tried that. It may be al little less crumbly because of all the filling but I think it would still work.
  • cream cheese – it needs to be fully at room temperature or you’ll end up with a bunch of lumps in the pudding mixture that you’ll never be able to whip out. The cream cheese is acting as a thickener. The only other acceptable substitute would be Neufchâtel cheese. Any other type of cream cheese substitute will not be thick enough to help the filling set up properly.
  • salted butter – it should softened to room temperature. Also, if you only have unsalted butter, that would be fine. Just do not use margarine. Also, this does not give the dish a salt flavor. It actually helps to balance out the other super sweet flavors in the recipe.
  • powdered sugar – if your powdered sugar is really clumpy, you may want to sift it first before using.
  • vanilla extract – if you don’t have vanilla extract, don’t stress. It’s not absolutely necessary, I just like to really accentuate the vanilla flavoring in the recipe.
  • whipped topping – make sure you grab the larger tub of whipped topping (Cool Whip). Remember also that it comes frozen so you’ll need to pop it in the fridge overnight to thaw.
Cool Whip, milk, powdered sugar, vanilla pudding mix, vanilla extract, Oreos and cream cheese.

HOW TO MAKE OREO DIRT CAKE

In a large bowl, whisk together the pudding mixes and milk for 2 minutes until it thickens. Place in the fridge to set for 5 minutes or until you are ready to make the filling. Place the Oreo cookies into a food processor and process until fine crumbs form. Add half of the crumbs to the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish and set aside.

collage of two photos: vanilla pudding in a mixing bowl with a whisk; Oreo cookie crumbs in the bottom of a baking dish.

In a large bowl, with an electric hand mixer (or in the body of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment) cream together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla, mix until smooth.

collage of two photos: cream cheese and butter being mixed together; powdered sugar and vanilla extract added and mixed.

Add the set pudding a little at a time until fully mixed in, scrape down the sides as needed. Fold in the whipped topping until there are no white streaks left.

collage of two photos: vanilla pudding added to cream cheese mixture; Cool Whip added to pudding mixture.

Smooth the filling carefully over the Oreo crumbs in the baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining Oreo crumbs on top. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours to set (overnight is best.) Or for a more solid filling, try putting it in the freezer and it will be more like an ice cream cake.

collage of two photos: pudding filling added to baking dish; crushed Oreo Cookies sprinkled on top of filling.

Then serve.

A serving of Oreo Dirt Cake being held by a serving utensil above the rest of the cake.

CRAVING MORE RECIPES?

Close up looking at a serving of Oreo Dirt Cake.

Oreo Dirt Cake

With a creamy pudding center and an Oreo crust and topping, this no bake Oreo Dirt Cake is always a hit with young and old alike. Only a few ingredients (and very little effort) required!
5 from 10 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Chill Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes
Servings: 15 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
  • 3 cups cold milk (I use whole milk)
  • 13.29 ounce package Oreo cookies
  • 8 ounce block cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • ½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 16 ounce (large tub) whipped topping (Cool Whip)

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, whisk together the pudding mixes and milk for 2 minutes until it thickens. Place in the refrigerator to set for 5 minutes or until you are ready to make the filling.
    Vanilla pudding in a mixing bowl with a whisk.
  • Place the Oreo cookies into a food processor and process until fine crumbs form. Add half of the crumbs to the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish and set aside.
    Oreo crumbs in the bottom of a baking dish.
  • In a large bowl, with an electric hand mixer (or in the body of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment) cream together the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
    Cream cheese and butter being mixed together.
  • Add the powdered sugar and vanilla, mix until smooth.
    A cream filling for a dirt cake coming together in a mixing bowl.
  • Add the set pudding a little at a time until fully mixed in, scrape down the sides as needed.
    Vanilla pudding being added to a cream filling in a mixing bowl.
  • Fold in the whipped topping until there are no white streaks left.
    Whipped topping being added to a pudding cream filling mixture.
  • Smooth the filling carefully over the Oreo crumbs in the baking dish.
    Cream filling on top of Oreo crumbs in a baking dish.
  • Sprinkle the remaining Oreo crumbs on top. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours to set (overnight is best) – you can even freeze it if you want more of an ice cream cake type dessert.
    Layered Oreo Dirt cake in a baking dish.
  • Then slice and serve!
    A spoon dipping into a slice of Oreo Dirt Cake.

Video

YouTube video

Notes

  • Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
  • PLEASE make sure to grab instant pudding and not cook and serve or this will never set up. Cook and serve pudding has to be heated first to set up. With instant pudding you do not have to do that. 
  • This is a soft set dessert so it won’t get fully solid. If you want it to be a bit more solid, put it into the freezer. 
  • If you don’t have a food processor, just put cookies in a Ziploc bag and pound with a heavy object until crushed. 
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American

Nutrition

Calories: 351kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 16g | Sodium: 337mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 37g

Nutritional Disclaimer

“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

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4 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    my mom makes this a couple times a year, only she calls it dirt pudding. She also gets some gummy worms and sticks them in the top of it to make it look like worms coming out of the ground.