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Easter Dirt Cake is a creamy and delicious Easter dessert filled with Oreos, pudding, and cool whip. Everyone will love to decorate and eat it!
We love this holiday version of our Oreo Dirt Cake! For more Easter desserts, try Carrot Cake Cookies or Easter Basket Cookie Cups.
Our Go-to Easter Dessert
Easter is one of our favorite holidays to gather with friends and family and to have some of our favorite recipes. From Deviled Eggs to Carrot Cake, there are so many foods that we make for our Easter celebrations.
One of our favorite Easter desserts is today’s Easter dirt cake, which is a holiday version of our classic Oreo Dirt Cake recipe.
Using a few of our favorite holiday candies, we’ve made a few additions to this yummy dessert to make it an easy and delicious treat to make for Easter.
If you like PEEPS and Oreos, then you’ll love this Easter cake. It’s really easy and of course, the kids go nuts for it!
Making this Easter Cake Recipe
Easter dirt cake only takes about 15 minutes to make. It does need to chill and set in the fridge for a few hours, but it takes little work and the result is amazing.
OREO CRUST. Crush ⅔ package of Oreos and place it in the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Set aside.
CREAM LAYER. Mix cream cheese and margarine (or butter) until smooth. Mix in powdered sugar and fold in whipped topping. Set aside.
In a separate large bowl mix pudding, milk, and vanilla. Fold this mixture in with the cream cheese mixture. Pour over the crumb mixture.
TOPPING. Sprinkle with the reserve crushed Oreos. Let set for a few hours and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
Top with the following candies right before serving:
- Marshmallow PEEPS
- Edible Grass
- Easter-colored M&Ms (your favorite variety)
Variations
You can change any of the three components to this dessert to your liking! Whether it’s the pudding, the cookies, or the toppings you use.
- Pudding. This cake can also be made using instant chocolate pudding mix if you are going for a more dirt-looking cake.
- Oreo Cookies. There are always new Oreo varieties that come out during the holiday, change the flavor up just a bit based on which cookies you use.
- Candies. Change out the candies, or add Carrot Strawberries on top instead of Easter candy.
Recipe Tips
Easter Dirt Cups. I normally make this dessert in a 9×13 baking dish, but it can also be divided into individual-sized portions – 8 oz plastic party cups, mini pie tins, and even dixie cups.
Simply fill the smaller serving containers with the pudding mixture, sprinkle on the Oreos, and top with festive decorations. Be sure to have spoons available as well.
Homemade grass. I can usually find edible grass at Target during the Easter season. Cracker Barrel, World Market, and Amazon also tend to carry it. Use coconut to make edible grass:
- In a separate bowl add ⅛ cup to ¼ cup of shredded coconut, add 1-2 drops of green food coloring, and stir.
- Continue adding food coloring one drop at a time until you reach your desired color.
- Sprinkle the coconut grass pieces over the dirt cake.
troubleshooting
Runny cream. I’ve made this recipe dozens and dozens of times and have a few tips to help make sure that the center turns out creamy and not runny.
- Instant only: One major culprit behind runny cream is the pudding powder. Be sure to use INSTANT pudding as the cook-and-serve kind will not set.
- Ignore the box: Do not follow the pudding recipe on the box. Add both of the 3.4 oz pudding powder packets to 3 cups of cold milk. Mix until it resembles a creamy pudding texture.
- Milk: Use whole milk or 2% milk for the creamiest texture. If you use skim milk it may be runnier than desired.
- Mixing: Don’t over-mix the cream layer otherwise, it can lose its creamy texture and become runny.
- Chilling: Keep the creamy center cold. If your kitchen is warm I would suggest placing metal mixing bowls in the freezer before you start making the recipe just to help keep the ingredients chilled.
- Slightly soften: Do not let the butter or cream cheese soften too much and definitely do not melt them.
- Scoop, don’t cut: This “cake” doesn’t cut or keep its shape like a regular cake. This should set like pudding. Scoop, serve, and eat with a spoon.
Storing info
Make ahead of time. Make this Peep Cake up to 24 hours in advance. Cover it with plastic wrap and keep it stored in the refrigerator. Keep the ⅓ Oreos (that you set aside in Step 1) in a Ziploc.
When you are ready to serve the dish, add the Oreo layer on top and decorate with Easter toppings.
STORE. Easter Dirt Cake is best stored when covered tightly with Saran Wrap or foil and placed in the fridge for up to 3 days – you may need to remove some candies to do this.
FREEZE. Technically you can freeze this dish, but it does not thaw into its original state. For this reason, I do not recommend freezing it when you wish to make it ahead of time, only freeze leftovers.
Remove any Easter candies and divide the leftovers into individual serving containers. Freeze for 1 month. Thaw on the counter and eat like ice cream.
Recipe FAQ
The layers of crushed up Oreos resemble dirt. This Easter version looks especially dirt-like with edible grass, bunnies, and candy eggs!
There are a few things that can cause a runny filling. Make sure you use at least 2% milk or creamier, don’t let the cream cheese and butter soften too much, and don’t overmix! For more tips, see the “Troubleshooting” section above.
You could use Cadbury eggs instead of M&M’s, green coconut grass, duck PEEPs, or even add Easter Chocolate Covered Strawberries that look like carrots on top!
For more Easter treats, try:
- Easter Chick Cupcakes
- Carrot Cake
- Rice Krispies Easter Nests
- Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Easter Basket Cookie Cups
Easter Dirt Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 package Oreos
- 1 8 oz. bar Cream Cheese softened
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 large container Cool Whip or 16 oz. whipping cream
- 2 3.4 oz boxes Instant White Chocolate or Vanilla Pudding Mix
- 3 cups milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Easter candy PEEP bunnies, edible grass, candy Easter eggs
Instructions
- Crush ⅔ package of Oreos and place it in the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Set aside.
- Mix cream cheese and margarine (or butter) until smooth. Mix in powdered sugar and fold in whipped topping. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl mix pudding, milk, and vanilla. Fold this mixture in with the cream cheese mixture.
- Pour over the crumb mixture.
- Sprinkle with the reserve crushed Oreos. Let set for a few hours and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
- Right before serving, top with bunny Peeps, edible grass, and Candy Easter Eggs.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
how many ounces is the large cool whip? Our store has 8 oz as the largest size but I have heard there is a size larger
Yes, there is a 16 ounce size that is the larger one.
This is the best dirt cake recipe ive ever made! 1 question: I know it says 12 servings but what is the actual serving size? My daughter is T1D and its important to know. . I appreciate the nutrition facts included. 🙂
If you split the 9×13 into 12 servings (pieces), it would be about 10 ounces a serving.