Dirt Cups
Two of our favorite helpers are back for this cooking adventure. This is a recipe I made for their Daddy a long time ago. I still had the recipe that had cut out of a magazine folded up in my old recipe box. Cooking with us has become a favorite with all of our “littles” and we couldn’t be more pleased about it.
This is a very easy recipe to pull together, especially with little ones.
Prepping ahead is the key to this one. Also, I did not own any clear glasses that would work so we used clear plastic cups.
Smash those cookies
This part can be messy, so we take an even amount of cookies and place them in two plastic bags. Find some sort of light “hammer” to smash the cookies in the bags with.
Look at those helpers ready to go!
Now it’s time to make the whipping cream. The original recipe calls for processed whipped topping. We substituted fresh whipped cream, which we think is far better.
If your littles are old enough to handle the hand mixer it’s something they can watch the result in action as the cream begins to form. Set this aside in the fridge during the next few steps to firm up some more.
And, of course, this is a fun dessert so licking the beaters is a must.
Now it’s time to make the chocolate pudding. Look at that smile!
It had been a long time since I’d purchased pudding off of the shelf. This, the instant variety, is just milk and pudding mix and whips up very quickly.
Back to the cups, it’s time to place “dirt” in each. Use about 1/4 of the cookies for the bottom of the cup.
Then add another 1/4 of the cookies to the pudding. Finally, add the firm whipped cream to the pudding and cookies. Stir by hand to incorporate.
It’s a messy process.
Little hands or big hands both got pudding all over the cups, but it’s “dirt”, so it’s ok.
After an hour in the refrigerator, it’s time to place the “worms,” in the cups. This part is especially fun for the “littles.”
Worms, frogs and bugs.
On this day, our local grocer only had gummy worms, but they still had the same fun effect. You can also, use other kinds of sprinkles and candy.
They were very proud of their Dirt Cups. It was a fun way to end the day’s visit!
Dirt Cups
Ingredients
- 2 cups of cold milk
- 1 package Jell-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
- 8 oz whipped cream (recipe below)
- 24 Oreo cookies, crushed
- Gummy worms or gummy bugs
- 8- 10 (7 oz. plastic cups)
- 8 ozs. heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
Instructions
- Place whipping cream in a deep bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat until soft peaks begin to form. Add the sugar and vanilla. Beat until will blended. Place bowl in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Pour milk into a deep, large bowl. Add the Jell-O pudding mix. Beat until well blended. Let sit for 5 minutes in the refrigerator.
- While the pudding and whipped cream are sitting, place 1/4 of the crushed cookies into the bottom of the cups.
- Remove the whipped cream and pudding from the refrigerator. Stir in the whipped cream and 1/4 of the cookies into the pudding.
- Fill the cups with even amounts of the pudding.
- Top with the remaining cookies.
- Refrigerate 1 hour.
- Just before serving, decorate with the gummy worms and bugs or whatever you like to play with in the "dirt!" Enjoy with your littles!
