Easter Dirt Cake

Easter dessert inside a pan with peeps on top.

This Easter Dirt Cake is the sweetest and best no-bake dessert for Easter. With layers of Oreo crumbs, fluffy & light vanilla pudding + chocolate pudding layers, topped with more Oreo crumbs for the 'dirt', green dyed coconut for the 'grass', and finished off with colorful Easter Peeps and pastel chocolate eggs.

Course Cake, Dessert, Easter

Cuisine American

Keyword easter desserts, easter dirt cake, easter dirt cake recipe, easter no bake desserts

Prep Time 20

Fridge Time 8

Total Time 8 20

Servings

Calories 395kcal

Author Jessica - Together as Family

Equipment

Ingredients

Oreo Crust

26 Oreo cookies
4 tablespoons salted butter melted

Pudding Dirt Layers

8 ounces cream cheese softened
6 tablespoons salted butter softened
1 cup powdered sugar
16 ounces Cool Whip thawed
3 cups half and half (divided)
1 box (3.4 oz) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 box (3.9 oz) chocolate instant pudding mix
13 Oreo cookies

Easter Dirt Cake Decorations

3/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut
green food coloring (about 3-4 drops)
15 marshmallow Peeps bunnies
pastel colored chocolate eggs OR pastel m&m's

Instructions

Make The Oreo Crumb Crust

Add 26 Oreo cookies (filling and all) into a food processor or chopper, and pulse or grind until they are in fine crumbs.
^{* If you don't have a food processor or food chopper, place the Oreo cookies inside a gallon-size Ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to crush them.}
Add the Oreo crumbs and melted butter into a small mixing bowl. Stir to combine until all the cookie crumbs are wet and coated in the butter.
Pour the Oreo crumb mixture into a 9x13 baking dish and firmly press them into an even layer along the bottom.
Put the pan inside the fridge while you prepare the pudding layers.

Make The Pudding Layers

In a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, or you can use a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until softened and smooth.
Add in the powdered sugar and beat until combined.
Gently stir in the Cool Whip until combined well. Set aside.
In a separate mixing bowl, add the vanilla instant pudding mix and 1½ cups of half and half. Stir with a wire whisk until combined and thick, this takes about 1-2 minutes.
In another separate bowl, add the chocolate instant pudding mix and 1½ cups of half and half. Stir with a wire whisk until combined and thick, this takes about 1-2 minutes.
Take the cream cheese + Cool Whip mixture from earlier and add half of it to the vanilla pudding bowl, and the other half to the chocolate pudding bowl.
Use a silicone spatula to mix each bowl until combined well.
Take the pan out of the fridge and evenly spread the vanilla pudding mixture over the Oreo crust.
Next, evenly spread the chocolate pudding mixture over the vanilla pudding layer.
Finely ground 13 Oreo cookies (in a food processor OR use a ziplock bag with a rolling pin) and spread it over the chocolate pudding layer. This creates the 'dirt'.
Cover the pan with plastic wrap, or a lid, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Decorate The Easter Dirt Cake

When ready to serve decorate the dirt cake!
Mix together the coconut flakes and 3-4 drops of green food coloring in a Ziploc bag. Shake it vigorously until all the coconut is colored green.
Sprinkle the 'grass' over the Oreo dirt crumbs.
Gently press the Peeps into the grass & dirt and then decorate with the pastel chocolate eggs.
^{* You can also add some Easter sprinkles, use pastel Easter mix m&m's, or any egg candy you want like jelly beans.}
Cut the cake into 15 pieces, making sure that each piece has an Easter peep on it, and serve. Enjoy!

Notes

Oreos : You need 39 Oreo cookies for this recipe. You will need to buy a family-size package of Oreos in order to have enough. The standard size package does not have 39 cookies in it.

Butter : This recipe has been tested and written using salted butter. If using unsalted butter, add 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt into the Oreo crumb crust mixture.

Cream Cheese Tips : For the best thick texture & taste, I recommend using full-fat cream cheese that is the brick-style cream cheese. It should be a rectangle shape wrapped in foil (aka -'brick-style') and not the cream cheese that comes in the tubs, or the spreadable cream cheese.

Fridge Time : Just like with any no bake dessert, this dirt cake needs plenty of fridge time in order to set properly before serving it. You need at least 8 hours of fridge time, or overnight, before slicing it and serving. Plan ahead!

Oreo Crumbs : It's best that the Oreo crumbs are ground into really fine crumbs. The best way to get fine crumbs is to use a food processor or blender. If you don't have either one of those, then place the Oreo cookies inside a gallon-size Ziploc bag and use a rolling pin, or other heavy item, and crush them. This will take several minutes to get them finely ground. Crush the entire Oreo cookie - filling an all. No need to separate the cookies or anything.

Substitutions/Variations -

Decorations : Use jelly beans, any candy egg (chocolate or not), Easter sprinkles, or even pastel colored Easter m&m's. Anything will look good as the decorative topping.
Peeps : Use any variety or color of Peeps that you want!
Oreo Cookies : Any Oreo cookie will work in this recipe. Make sure that you are crushing the entire Oreo cookie (filling and all) when making the Oreo crumbs. Other great options are chocolate Oreos, dark chocolate Oreos, or even the coconut chocolate Oreo cookies if you can find them.
Instant Pudding : Use two boxes of chocolate pudding for an all-chocolate dessert. Or try using white chocolate pudding/cheesecake pudding for the vanilla layer. You can even do a coconut chocolate theme and use chocolate pudding + coconut cream pudding. Lots of options here! Make sure that you are using instant pudding mix and not the cook n' serve pudding.
Coconut 'Grass' : If you're not a fan of coconut, try substituting with edible grass (you can usually find this around Easter by the other candy), green sprinkles, or just leave the grass layer off entirely.

Nutrition