Topped with plenty of dirt (chocolate cookie crumbs) and (gummy) worms, these dirt cookies are inspired by the pudding cups you had as a kid! They taste great and are fun to make with kids. Recipe includes a how-to video!
Chocolate Dirt Cookies
I never thought I’d be so excited to share cookies covered in worms, but I guess that’s just what happens when you’re a boy mom 🤷♀️ These dirt cookies are inspired by the dirt pudding cups my mom used to make when I was a kid. They are quite tasty, so much fun, and my boys absolutely love them!
Despite the worms and the “dirt” on top, these cookies are actually really delicious. The base is chocolatey, soft, dense, and moist (it’s the same one I use for most of my chocolate-based gourmet cookies like my buckeye cookies and mint chocolate cookies). We’ll add a not-too-sweet chocolate cream cheese frosting before topping with Oreo cookie crumbs and colorful gummy worms.
Why You’ll Love These Cookies
- Balanced flavor (not too sweet!). While these dirt cookies are cute, they actually tastes great too. I know cookies topped with frosting, more cookies, and candy might sound like sugar overload, but I worked hard to make sure they actually taste good and aren’t just adorable.
- Adults love them just as much as kids! They’d make a perfect dessert for a bug or garden themed party .
- No chilling the dough before baking, so they’re fairly quick to make at just 40 minutes total.
- They are so much fun! Get the kids involved with the decorating (you may end up with piles of gummy worms on top of your cookies if you do 🤣) and just have fun with it. You could even make some stiff buttercream or royal icing and dye it green to do some blades of “grass” on the cookies if you wanted to add some more color!
What You Need
Dirt cookies have a pretty simple ingredient list with nothing too fancy or hard-to-find. Here are the key players in this recipe.
- Egg + egg yolk. Adding an extra egg yolk to our cookie dough will make it super tender and chewy. I do this with my brownie recipe for the same reason.
- Brown sugar. Using a mix of light brown sugar and granulated sugar adds the perfect depth of flavor and sweetness to these dirt cookies.
- Cream cheese. This prevents the frosting from being TOO sweet and adds a nice flavor too! I always use brick-style, full-fat cream cheese in my recipes, like my chocolate cheesecake or cream cheese frosting. Using the spreadable kind sold in tubs could cause a runny frosting.
- Oreo cookies. For our dirt! We’ll pulverize these into crumbs before sprinkling them on top of our frosting. Just like when making an Oreo crust, there’s no need to remove the cream before crushing your cookies.
- Gummy worms. I recommend using regular gummy worms, not the sour kind. Unless you like sour candy and chocolate together–then by all means use sour gummy worms! 🙃
SAM’S TIP: Stick with natural cocoa powder; I found that Dutch process cocoa was a bit too intense for dirt cookies.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Dirt Cookies
- Prepare your cookie dough. This is a pretty basic chocolate cookie and yields a dough that’s a bit on the drier side, so be sure to gradually add your flour to help it incorporate properly.
- Roll the dough into balls and bake. I do 2 Tablespoon sized scoops; I don’t have a 2 Tablespoon sized scoop but typically just do a heaping portion with my favorite 1 ½ Tablespoon one.
- Flatten the tops. My 1-cup measuring cup works well for this, but you could use the bottom of a drinking glass or really anything that will give you a smooth surface for decorating.
- Swirl frosting on top of each cookie. I use a piping bag for this, but you can also just spread it on with an offset spatula.
- Decorate with cookie crumbs and gummy worms. I typically do just 1 worm on top of each cookie, but feel free to add more if you like!
SAM’S TIP: Let your cookies cool completely before frosting, or the frosting will just melt right off. They won’t take too long to cool once you move them to a cooling rack!
Frequently Asked Questions
Using spreadable or low-fat cream cheese, letting your butter get too soft, or reducing the sugar can all cause a runny frosting. This can also happen if you frost your dirt cookies while they’re still warm, so have patience.
If you follow the recipe, you won’t have any issues though!
Yes, you can! If you want to do this, then just cover the dough tightly and place in the fridge. It will probably be quite hard to scoop after chilling, though, so let it come back to room temperature beforehand.
I recommend it if you plan to enjoy them over a few days. I personally am comfortable keeping them at room temperature for up to 24 hours and then refrigerate beyond that. Make sure to keep them in an airtight container when storing, wherever you keep them.
Do you have any other gourmet cookie recipes you’d like to see? Let me know in the comments! 👇
Enjoy!
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Dirt Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (150 g) light brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk room temperature preferred
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups (280 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (50 g) natural cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Frosting
- 6 oz (170 g) cream cheese
- 6 Tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter softened
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 ⅔ cups (333 g) powdered sugar
- ½ cup (50 g) natural cocoa powder
- 6 oreo cookies pulverized to fine crumbs
- Gummy worms for decorating
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream butter and sugars together until creamy and well combined.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar, ¾ cup (150 g) light brown sugar
- Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and stir until combined.1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.2 ¼ cups (280 g) all-purpose flour, ½ cup (50 g) natural cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon salt
- Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, stirring until completely combined.
- Scoop cookie dough by 2 Tablespoon-sized scoops and roll between your palms to make a smooth ball. Place on baking sheet, spacing cookies at least 2” (5cm) apart and bake in 350F (175C) oven for 10-11 minutes.
- Within one minute of removing cookies from the oven, gently flatten the surface of the cookie using a 1-cup measuring cup (this will give you a smooth surface for decorating the cookie). While cookies are cooling, prepare your frosting.
For the frosting
- Combine cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until smooth and creamy.6 oz (170 g) cream cheese, 6 Tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter
- Add vanilla extract and salt, stir until combined.¾ teaspoon vanilla extract, ⅛ teaspoon salt
- With mixer on low speed, gradually add powdered sugar until completely combined.2 ⅔ cups (333 g) powdered sugar
- Add cocoa powder and stir until completely incorporated and frosting is uniform.½ cup (50 g) natural cocoa powder
Assembly
- Spread or pipe frosting onto cooled cookies (I like to use a piping bag fitted with an open tip to pipe the frosting then smooth it with an offset spatula).
- Sprinkle cookie crumbs evenly over the frosting then gently nestle 1-2 gummy worms on top of the frosting. Enjoy!6 oreo cookies, Gummy worms
Notes
Cream cheese
Use a full-fat, “brick-style” cream cheese, not the spreadable kind sold in tubs.Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 24 hours or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Amanda
I never make recipes without ratings, however this site never fails me so I made these for my sons class and they came out perfect! Thank you for sharing your delicious recipes!
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Amanda! 🙂