Rich, Chocolatey Dirt Cake Cookies with Candy Gummy Worms & Oreo Dirt! (2024)

These dirt cake cookies are just like the classic dessert you remember from childhood but in tasty cookie form! The base is a rich, chewy chocolate cookie topped with smooth chocolate buttercream frosting, Oreo cookie dirt, and a candy gummy worm! They are the perfect cookie for Halloween parties or any other time of year!

Best Chocolate Dirt Cake Cookies

I love baking fun and festive Halloween cookie recipes because I can go wild with decorating and using fun, seasonal ingredients like candy. These dirt cake cookies are always a hit with the kids since they can help crush the Oreo cookies into 'dirt' and place the chewy gummy worms!

🥘 Dirt Cake Cookies Ingredients, Notes, & Substitutions

While these cookies have three components (the cookies, the frosting, and the 'decorations'), all ingredients should be easy to find. My homemade chocolate buttercream frosting is the perfect base for all the cookie 'dirt'!

Chocolate Cookies

• Butter - ½cupof unsalted butter softened at room temperature.
• Sugar - ¾cup of granulatedsugar, plus more for rolling the cookie dough if you want a little extra pop of sweetness.
• Light Brown Sugar - ¼cup of packed light brown sugar or dark brown sugar. You can also try alight brown sugar substitute.
• Egg - 1large eggat room temperature.
• Vanilla Extract - 1teaspoon of vanilla extract or a vanilla extract substitute
• Dark Cocoa Powder - ½cupof unsweetened dark cocoa powderor Dutch-processed cocoa powder.
• Espresso Powder (optional) - ½tablespoon of espresso powder. This is the secret ingredient for ultra-rich dark chocolate cookies!
• Cornstarch - 1teaspoon of cornstarch or a cornstarch substitute.
• Baking Soda - ½teaspoon of baking soda or a baking soda substitute.
• Salt - ¼teaspoon of salt to cut the sweetness.
• All-Purpose Flour - 1 ¼cup of all-purpose flour or anall-purpose flour substitute(spooned and leveled).

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

• Butter - 1cup of butter or a suitablebutter substitute softened at room temperature.
• Vanilla Extract - 2teaspoons of vanilla extract.
• Cocoa Powder - ¾cupunsweetened cocoa powder.
• Confectioner's Sugar - 3cupsof powdered sugar or a confectioners' sugar substitute.
• Heavy Cream - 2-4tablespoons of heavy cream or a heavy cream substitute.
• Salt - A pinch of saltto taste.

Decorating

• Gummy Worms - Gummy worm candies(1-2 gummy worms per cookie).
• Oreos - 10chocolate Oreo cookies, crushed.

*Be sure to see the free printable recipe card below for ingredients, exact amounts & instructions with tips!*

🔪 How To Make Dirt Cake Cookies

It may seem like a lot of steps, but these cookies aren't very difficult. You can always use store-bought frosting to speed things up (though homemade always tastes best, in my opinion)!

You will need your stand mixer, measuring utensils, a silicone spatula, a baking sheet, and a piping bag or Ziploc bag.

This recipe is for 18 standard-sized cookies, though you can always make them larger or smaller. Just keep an eye on them and adjust the baking time as necessary.

Mix & Bake The Chocolate Cookies

1. Preheat. Preheat the oven to 350°F(175°C/Gas Mark 4)and line your baking sheet(s) with parchment paper or use silicone baking mats.
2. Cream butter and sugar. Using your stand mixer, cream together½ cup (113.5 grams) of butter,¾ cup (150 grams) of sugar, and¼ cup (55 grams) of light brown sugarat medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Then, add1 large egg(50 grams) and1 teaspoon (4.93 milliliters) of vanilla extractand mix until smooth.
3. Add dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients(½ cup (43 grams) of unsweetened dark cocoa powder,½ tablespoon (2.5 grams) of espresso powder(if using),1 teaspoon (2 grams) of cornstarch,½ teaspoon (2 grams) of baking soda, and¼ teaspoon (1.5 grams) of salt)and mix on low speed until smooth again. Add1 ¼ cups (156.25 grams) all-purpose flourand mix until just combined.
4. Portion the dough. Scoop the dough into portions that are 2 tablespoons (34.14 grams) each and roll them into a ball with your hands. Place them onto the baking sheet, leaving 3-4 inches of space in between each one.
5. Bake. Bake in the oven at 350°F (175°C/Gas Mark 4) for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges have set and the cookies have puffed up.
6. Cool. Remove the cookies from the oven. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Mix The Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

1. Beat the butter. In a large mixing bowl, beat1 cup (227 grams) of butterfor 1 minute or until creamy. Add2 teaspoons (2.86 milliliters)of vanilla extractand mix until smooth and creamy again.
2. Add cocoa powder. Add¾ cup (64.5 grams) of unsweetened cocoa powderand mix until smooth again.
3. Alternate sugar and cream. Alternate adding 1 cup portions (125 grams) of the3 cups (360 grams) of confectioners sugarand drizzle in small portions of the2-4 tablespoons (29.57 milliliters) of heavy cream, mixing with the butter at medium speed. Continue until all of the confectioners' sugar and cocoa have been incorporated, scraping the sides of the bowl as you go. Taste and adjust sweetness with a pinch ofsaltat a time.
4. Beat until smooth. Increase your hand mixer or stand mixer speed to high and finish beating the frosting until smooth and creamy, which should take about 1-2 minutes.

Assemble the Dirt Cake Cookies

1. Pipe the frosting. Transfer the chocolate buttercream into a large or Ziploc storage bag. Use a large round piping tip, or snip the corner of the baggie off and pipe the frosting onto the top of each cookie.
2. Make the 'dirt'. Sprinkle 10 crushed Oreosover the frosting.
3. Add gummy worms. Top each cookie with 1-2gummy worms,and they are ready to serve.

🍪 What To Serve With Dirt Cake Cookies

These thick and chewy chocolate dirt cake cookies are always delicious with a glass of milk! Pair them with these easy popcorn balls and a platter of Nutter Butter mummies to serve a fun and festive Halloween dessert spread!

These cookies are great for Halloween Boo-ing your neighbors, too! Enjoy!

💭 Tips & Notes

• Be sure tospoon and level your flourwhen measuring. Scooping directly into the bag compresses the flour, meaning you will have more than is needed and might end up with dry cookies.
• You want to wait until your cookies are completely cool before you frost them. Otherwise, your frosting will melt right off!
• I usually put the Oreo cookies in a Ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to crush them for easy cleanup. A food processor works, too.
• Any chocolate sandwich cookie can be used for the cookie crumb dirt. Albertsons, Kroger, Walmart, and most grocery stores have their own(typically less-expensive)store brands.
• While gummy worms are the traditional choice for dirt cake, you can swap them out for other gummy candy critters! Around Halloween, you can typically find gummy frogs, gummy eyeballs, and gummy bugs, which would all be equally fun and tasty!

🥄 Make Ahead Options

If you'd like to save yourself some time and prepare your cookies in advance, you can always freeze the cookie dough! Portion the prepared dough into 2-tablespoon balls and place them on a baking sheet.

Pop the baking sheet in the freezer for an hour so the dough will not stick together, then transfer the cookie dough balls to a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.

You can also make the buttercream in advance. Place your prepared buttercream frosting in an airtight container or Ziploc bag and refrigerate it for up to 1 week or freeze it for up to 3 months.

Let frozen buttercream thaw in the fridge overnight before using. The cookies can be baked from frozen, but you should let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking to take some of the chill off.

🥡 Storing

These dirt cake cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. They will last for a week in the fridge, but the gummy worms will harden.

Freezing Dirt Cake Cookies

While I don't recommend freezing the gummy worms, you can freeze the baked and frosted cookies. I like to place a layer of parchment paper between the cookies and put them in a freezer storage bag.

The cookies will freeze well for up to 3 months and can be thawed out at room temperature to eat.

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