Halloween Graveyard Dirt Cups: Chocolate Pudding with Cookie Crumbs and Gummy Worms

Whisk the pudding mix with the cold milk for 2 minutes until thick. Chill 5 minutes.

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 1 box (3.9 oz) instant chocolate pudding mix
• 2 cups cold whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tbsp powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 20 chocolate sandwich cookies
• 16 gummy worms
• 8 oval shortbread or Milano-style cookies for tombstones
• Black decorating gel or melted chocolate for writing
• 8 small clear cups or jars

Instructions

1. Whisk the pudding mix with the cold milk for 2 minutes until thick. Chill 5 minutes.
2. Whip the cream with the powdered sugar and vanilla to soft peaks, then fold into the pudding for a lighter, mousse-like texture.
3. Pulse the chocolate sandwich cookies in a food processor into fine crumbs that look like soil.
4. Spoon a layer of cookie crumbs into the bottom of each cup, then a layer of pudding, tucking one gummy worm against the glass so it peeks through.
5. Add a second layer of pudding and finish with a generous layer of crumbs on top.
6. Write RIP on each oval cookie with black gel or melted chocolate and let it set, then push a cookie tombstone into the top of each cup.
7. Drape a second gummy worm over the dirt. Chill at least 1 hour before serving.
8. Dirt cups appeared on American potluck tables in the 1980s, when boxed pudding and sandwich cookies made a layered dessert anyone could assemble. They became a Halloween classroom and party staple because kids get to build their own graveyard, and the pudding-and-cookie combination never goes out of style.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 390 kcal
• Protein: 5g
• Fat: 20g
• Carbohydrates: 50g
• Fiber: 2g
• Sugar: 34g
• Sodium: 320mg