Mini Dirt Cakes

Goodbye Summer!  Well school starts Wednesday.  It's hard to believe the summer is gone.  It flew by.  We didn't get to do half of the things I had planned in my head!  However that seems to be a common occurrence.  That head of mine has all kinds of things bouncing around in there.  LOL! I invited my cousin to bring her little ones last week so we could have an "end of summer" party.  Woo Hoo!  I have enjoyed my time with the grandbabies this summer but I am ready for the school year to begin so I can have a few hours of free time during the day and get some projects done around here.   (we'll see how many ACTUALLY get done) ha!

We had a great time at the lunch.  I fixed taco's which were good but the big hit of the party were these little individual "dirt cakes".  When I was younger we used to make these in a large terra cotta pot and put a bouquet of fake flowers in it. I decided to make individual ones for the kids because I think its kinda neat to get your own and it also helps serve as a great portion control so the kids don't get too much sugar.   I used small jelly jars as the serving dishes.  The girls got flowers in their dirt and my grandson got gummy worms in his.  I thought they would have been adorable with little "plant markers" or garden signs that had their names on them but I didn't get that part done.

If you are interested in making these I put the recipe below.  Just a word of warning - this recipe makes quite a bit.  I cut the recipe in half to make 5 small deserts and still had a good size bowl of pudding leftover.

Dirt Cake

1 lg. pkg oreo cookies

1 8oz pkg. cream cheese

1/2 stick of butter

1 Cup powdered sugar

2 small packages of instant vanilla pudding

3 1/2 Cups milk

12oz. Coolwhip

In a food processor crush the Oreo cookies until they are fine and crumbly. These will be the "dirt" Set this bowl aside until ready to assemble the dessert. 

In a small bowl combine the softened cream cheese and butter with the powdered sugar. Set this bowl aside as well.  In another larger bowl combine the instant pudding with the milk. Continue to beat this mixture just as you would when making pudding.  Once thickened, fold in the whipped topping. 

Combine the pudding mixture with the cream cheese mixture.

Layer the pudding mixture with the crumbled cookies. Make sure you end with the cookie layer or "dirt"  on top.  Once layered in your flower pot or serving bowl place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.  You can add flowers or gummy worms if desired.

I hope you enjoy this yummy and fun dessert.