Hola! Happy Cinco de Mayo! It also happens to be a special birthday today and I decided what better way to celebrate then with a little something delicious from the past. I used Mark's birthday as a perfect excuse to have fun in the kitchen and whip up something fabulous. It is always all about the food, after all! Now that I think of it, think this recipe could almost be considered retro! Laura made this last week for Mary Katherine's Big Ol' birthday BBQ and it was a winner! Definitely the best tasting dirt cake that I have ever put in my mouth.
This recipe has the dirt served in small individual cups. As you can see, I was lucky enough to come across kids' beach pails from Target and filled those to make two larger servings of dirt. (not pictured is the shovel that I bought to use as a scoop!) I would also like to note that the gummy worms I found at Harris Teeter are the best gummy worms EVER (made by Shari Candies). They are the perfect consistency and have a fruity flavor that bursts when you bite into them. Ashley Erb would have to agree as we had a special taste testing of the dirt last night in our kitchen! We dissected each worm's flavor! (Yes, these worms are so great that they deserve a few descriptive sentences detailing their exceptional qualities. Good gummi worms are hard to find and are highly underrated).
BIRTHDAY DIRT!
1 package of Oreos, crushed
2 cups of milk
1 package of Jello chocolate instant pudding mix (4 serving size)
1 8 oz. container of Cool Whip topping, thawed
1 package of gummy worms
*note: I suggest doubling this recipe...trust me, you will want MORE!
Directions -Put cookies into a zipper style bag and close tightly.
-Using a rolling pin, roll and crush the cookies until crumbly. Set aside.
-In a large bowl, pour the milk and chocolate instant pudding mix.
-Whisk well until all of the pudding mix is dissolved.
-Let stand 5 minutes.
-Add the Cool Whip and 1/2 of the crushed cookies.
-Stir until well blended.
-Place a large spoonful of crushed cookies into the bottoms of the plastic cups.
-Add the pudding mixture on top of that until the cups are 3/4 full.
-Add 1 large gummy worm so that it is half in the cup and 1/2 hanging out of the cup.
-Spoon in more crushed cookie around the worm to hold it in place.
-Serve chilled. *You can use as many worms in the pudding as desired.
If you want to take a new summer twist on the classic dirt recipe, you can substitute with vanilla pudding, Nilla wafers and gummy sharks for a beach themed "Birthday Sand"!
Don't we all like to pretend like we are kids? I think I do that at least 5 times a day but then again I might be an exception to the rule. This delectable treat is guaranteed to make anyone smile! Special thanks to Lil Till for sharing her perfect recipe! I can't wait until someone digs into this morsel of chocolatey goodness tonight!