These Graveyard Dirt Cups are perfect for a Halloween Party and are so much fun to decorate! A peanut butter pudding layer is mixed with whipped cream and then topped with crushed Oreos, Nutter Butter tombstones, and all your favorite Halloween candies in this delicious dessert.
This recipe is inspired by my Halloween Dirt Cake recipe and a spin on a classic dirt cake dessert. Serve it at Halloween parties in clear plastic cups to show off the dirt and pudding layers or prepare the pudding cups and let kids add their favorite candy toppings! Either way, it's a perfect addition to your Halloween celebrations!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Peanut Butter Pudding: I thought it would be a fun idea to use peanut butter pudding and Oreos as well as Nutter Butters for the tombstones to give this recipe a peanut butter flavor, but feel free to use chocolate or any flavor of instant pudding mix.
- Whole Milk: Use chilled, cold milk so that the pudding will thicken faster.
- Cool Whip
- Oreos: I used both peanut butter and classic Oreos for the dirt in the recipe
- Nutter Butters: I used Nutter Butter cookies to add to the peanut butter flavor of the dessert, but you can use other cookies to make the gravestone.
- Halloween Candy: gummy worms, candy pumpkins, and candy corn are classic toppings for a Halloween dirt dessert recipe. I also used mini Reese's cups and marshmallows!
Please see the full list of ingredients and measurements at the bottom of the post.
🎃 How to Make Halloween Dirt Cups 👻
Step 1: Make the pudding filling
To make the pudding filling, whisk the milk and dry pudding mix in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Let it sit on the counter for five minutes to thicken.
Step 2: Make the Oreo dirt
Pulse the peanut butter Oreos in a food processor until they turn into a fine crumb. Set them aside in a small bowl and then repeat with the classic Oreos.
Step 3: Chill the pudding
Fold the cool whip and crushed peanut butter Oreos into the pudding mixture. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for one hour.
Step 4: Decorate and serve
Add a layer of Oreo dirt to the bottom of each serving cup, top with about ½ cup of pudding, and then sprinkle on a layer of dirt on top. Use black writing gel to write "RIP" on the top of a Nutter Butter, insert the bottom half into the pudding, and then top each cup with more Halloween candy.
You can also crush Oreos into crumbs using a blender. However, it can also be as simple as placing the Oreo cookies in a sealed ziplock bag and rolling over them with a rolling pin or gently crushing them with the bottom of a glass or potato masher.
There are lots of fun ways to decorate dirt cups! You can top them with your favorite Halloween candies and make spooky monsters and decorations using black writing gel.
Here are a few of my favorites:
Reese's Cup Monsters - use the black gel to secure candy eyes to a Reese's cup
Marshmallow Ghosts - draw on two eyes and a gaping mouth to make a ghost out of a large or mini marshmallow
Tombstone - write RIP on a cookie to create a tombstone for the Graveyard. I used Nutter Butters, but you can use Oreos, Milano's, or any of your favorites!
Kitchen Tools You'll Need
- Mixing bowl and rubber spatula
- Food Processor
- Serving Cups: You can use glass or plastic cups for serving these, but I would recommend using cups that you can see through to show off the pudding!
Halloween Candy Decorations 🧟♀️ 👀 🎃
These dirt cups feature some of my go-to Halloween candy decorations!
- Zombie Hands - I found this zombie decoration kit at Joanne Fabrics, but have seen it at Michaels and Walmart as well.
- Candy Eyes - I like to get a variety of sizes and then mix and match.
- Candy Pumpkins and Candy Corn
- Gummy worms
- Black Writing Gel - use this as a way to glue pieces of candy together, draw a face or write a spooky message!
Halloween Graveyard Dirt Cake
You can easily turn this into a graveyard dirt cake instead of serving it in individual cups.
To do so, you'll need to double the amount of Oreos used, but the rest of the ingredients can stay the same. To assemble: add a layer of Oreo dirt on the bottom of a 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 baking dish, add the peanut butter pudding, and then top with the remaining dirt crumbs. Decorate with tombstones and Halloween candy. Add marshmallows ghosts to make a "Ghosts in the Graveyard" cake!
See my Halloween Dirt Cake recipe for more tips!
Storage
These pudding cups should be enjoyed the day they're assembled as the tombstone cookie will begin to soften in the pudding with time. If you want to do some prep ahead of time, you can make the pudding mixture and store it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to one week. Then, scoop into each cup and add fun toppings when you're ready to serve them!
Graveyard Dirt Cups
Ingredients
- 5.8 ounce Peanut Butter Flavor Instant Pudding
- 3 cups whole milk cold
- 8 ounces Cool Whip thawed
- 8 chocolate peanut butter Oreos
- 8 Oreos
- Black writing gel
- 10 Nutter Butters or alternate cookies
- Halloween Candy
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk the milk and dry pudding together until smooth. It will begin to thicken as you whisk. Let the bowl of pudding sit on the counter for 5 minutes to thicken further.
- While it sits, pulse the chocolate peanut butter Oreos into a crumb using a food processor. Transfer the crumbs to a small bowl and set aside. Wipe out the bowl of a food processor with a paper towel and then repeat with the regular oreo cookies.
- After the pudding has rested for 5 minutes, fold in the cool whip and ½ cup of the peanut butter oreo crumbs.
- Cover the bowl with the pudding mixture with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Assemble the pudding cups: Add about 1 tablespoon of cookie crumbs to the bottom of each serving cup. Top with ½ cup of pudding, followed by another layer of cookie crumbs. Top with a cookie graveyard tombstone and Halloween candies.
- To make the tombstone cookies: use the black gel to write “RIP” on the top half of a nutter butter cookie. Insert the bottom of the cookie into the pudding so that it looks like a gravestone popping out of the ground.
Notes
- This will make about ten ½ cup individual servings. For each cup, I used about 1 tablespoon of oreo “dirt” crumbs on the bottom of the cup and 1.5 teaspoons of dirt on top. Adjust these measurements to the size of cup you choose to serve them in!
- If you don't have a food processor, you can make the oreo "dirt" crumbs by putting the Oreos in a ziplock bag and rolling over them with a rolling pin or crushing them with a potato masher.
- Turn this into Halloween graveyard dirt cake by making this in an 8 x 8 baking dish instead of individual cups. You'll need to double the amount of Oreos - check out my Halloween oreo dirt cake recipe for reference!
Substitutions:
- I used Nutter Butter cookies to add to the peanut butter flavor of the pudding, but you can use other cookies to make the gravestone! Milano cookies are a popular option and you can also use Oreos!
- Use your favorite Halloween candies to decorate the cups! I used gummy worms, candy pumpkins, marshmallows, Reese's cups, and candy corn.
How to Store:
These pudding cups should be enjoyed the day they're assembled as the tombstone cookie will begin to soften in the pudding with time. If you want to do some prep ahead of time, you can make the pudding mixture and store it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to one week. Then, scoop into each cup and add fun toppings when you're ready to serve them!Please note, Holiday Sweets N Treats isn't a professional nutritionist. Any and all nutritional information shared is an estimate. If you're following a specific diet or counting calories, we suggest you use the nutrition calculator of your choice. Calories can vary depending on the brands and products used.
Jess
Like a Halloween themed version of worms 'n dirt! That was always a favourite of mine growing up, and my kids love it now. I might have to make some of these for their lunch on Halloween, since it's a Monday this year!