Earth Day Treat | LB

Dirt cups and gummy worms are a timeless chilled dessert. I’ve made it my go-to dessert for celebrating Earth Day. The beauty of this recipe is that it can be remixed for different occasions and holidays such as Halloween. I’ve made this a few different ways in the past. I’ve tried it by making my chocolate pudding from scratch with milk and cocoa powder and I’ve even tried substituting the tub of whipped topping with canned whip cream. I do not recommend the latter.

INGREDIENTS

1 box of instant chocolate pudding
2 cups of cold milk
1 tub (8oz) whipped topping
1 sleeve cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookie

DIRECTIONS

• Whisk the powdered mix and milk into a large bowl for two (2) minutes. Set mixture to the side for 5 minutes.
• Crush an entire sleeve of cookies.
• Spoon in all the whipped topping, blending well, before pouring in half of the cookie crumb mixture.
• Mix well and then spoon mixture into desired containers.
• Top with remaining cookie crumbs
• Refrigerate for an hour until firm
• Garnish with 1-2 gummy worms before serving

If you don’t drink cow’s milk, I have found that Almond milk makes for a tasty substitute. It doesn’t hurt to experiment with your favorite milk. I do not recommend substituting the tub of whipped topping with canned whip cream. There is nothing wrong with canned whip cream, but it didn’t make the pudding as thick and fluffy.

To keep cookie crushing simple, put the cookies in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin or similar object to crush the cookies. If you don’t mind the extra step toss the cookies in a blender and watch it go.

For transferring the pudding into the desired serving dish, I recommend a transparent container to show off your beautiful dessert. I used lowball glasses since children are visual and I wanted them to get the full experience of eating dirt with worms crawling out of it. I didn’t layer the pudding and cookie crumbs this time but, that’s an easy modification to this recipe and adds to the visual appeal.