This Halloween dirt cake is decorated with crushed Oreos, tombstone cookies and pumpkin candies to create a graveyard topping. Fun, festive and guaranteed to be a hit at your Halloween party.
Other Halloween desserts we love include Halloween rice krispie treats, monster cookies and Halloween Oreo balls. They are perfect for any themed celebration!
Why I Love This Recipe
- Favorite dessert: If you love dirt cake and anything made with Oreo cookies, this Halloween dirt cake is the perfect centerpiece for any party table!
- Cute and festive: Your kids will love helping decorating the graveyard that tops this classic pudding dessert! Crushed cookies become graveyard dirt, cookies are transformed into gravestones and candy pumpkins add a pop of color!
- Irresistibly good: Or should we say this twist on dirt pudding is Devilishly amazing? Rich and creamy with layers of pudding and Oreos it’s no wonder both kids and adults love it!
- Easy to make: No tricks here, this simple Halloween cake is so easy to put together with Oreos, a vanilla pudding mix, Cool Whip, cream cheese, powdered sugar and fun decorations.
Recipe Variations
- Pudding flavor: For chocolate dessert lovers, use instant chocolate pudding mix or white chocolate pudding instead of vanilla!
- Oreos: Use your favorite flavor of chocolate sandwich cookies to make this graveyard dirt cake.
- Tombstones: Instead of Milano cookies, dip Nutter Butter cookies in melted white chocolate!
- More fun decorations: Add other fun decorations like Ghost Peeps, candy eyeballs, gummy bears, festive sprinkles or other Halloween candy if desired.
- Graveyard dirt pudding cups: Instead of one big Halloween dirt cake recipe, layer the graveyard pudding in clear plastic cups!
- Same concept, different cake: Easily transform my chocolate poke cake into a graveyard dirt cake by decorating it with the Oreo cookie crumbs, Milano cookies and candy pumpkins!
How to Make Halloween Dirt Cake
First make your Oreo crust layer by crushing Oreos in food processor or blender. Reserve 1/2 cup for topping then combine remaining with melted butter and press into a 9×13 pan.
Make the graveyard pudding by whipping the softened cream cheese and butter until fluffy with a stand mixer or electric hand mixer. Mix in the powdered sugar and vanilla then fold in the Cool Whip.
In a separate bowl, mix Instant pudding and milk. Once thickened, fold pudding into the cream cheese mixture.
Spread the pudding mixture evenly over the Oreo crust and smooth into an even layer. Sprinkle the reserved 1/2 cup Oreo crumbs over the top then cover loosely with plastic wrap and chill 4 hours.
Before serving, decorate your Halloween dirt cake by writing RIP on Milano cookies with a black icing writer. Place tombstones all over the cake and add candy pumpkins!
Storage Instructions
While dirt cake tastes best right after making, you can store leftovers. Store in the refrigerator tightly covered with plastic wrap up to 3 days.
You may want to remove the candy pumpkins before storing and keep in mind that the cookies will soften the longer it is stored.
More Halloween Recipes
Browse all
HUNGRY FOR MORE? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all the newest recipes!
Halloween Dirt Cake
Video
Ingredients
Oreo Crust
- 36 regular Oreos
- 3 Tablespoons salted butter , melted
Layer 1
- 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese , softened
- 5 Tablespoons salted butter , softened
- ⅔ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 ounces Cool Whip , thawed
- 2 (3.9-ounce) boxes instant vanilla pudding
- 2 ½ cups whole milk
- 8-12 milano cookies
- 8-12 pumpkin candies
- black writer
Instructions
Oreo Crust
- In a food processor or blender, blend Oreos (whole cookies) into fine crumbs. Reserve 1/2 cup for topping and then mix in the melted butter until combined. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish and place in the freezer or the refrigerator for 5 minutes.
Filling
- In a medium-sized bowl, whip the cream cheese and butter until fluffy with an electric mixer. Mix in the powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Fold in the Cool Whip.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the pudding and milk together until thick. Let sit a few minutes to thicken. Then fold the pudding into the cream cheese mixture.
- Spread the filling evenly over the Oreo crust until smooth.
- Sprinkle the reserved 1/2 cup Oreo crumbs over the top. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and chill 4 hours. Right before serving write 'RIP' on the milano cookies with a black writer. Then add pumpkins on top.
Notes
- You could also use chocolate pudding in this recipe.
- Make in individual serving cups.
- Add gummy worms to make it fun for the kids.
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is also the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook. Here you will find easy family-friendly recipes for every occasion.
My kids and i had so much fun making this together. We enjoyed eating it too lol.
Such a fun treat for Halloween! Thanks for the recipe!
Amazing! I actually made this for my son’s birthday cake and everyone loved it!