Dirt Pudding Cookies

Have you ever wanted dirt pudding but in cookie form? These Dirt Pudding Cookies take all of the delicious components of a classic dirt pudding and put them in bite sized form. A soft fluffy black cocoa cookie is topped with homemade chocolate pudding, Oreo crumbs, and a gummy worm.

You'll start off by making the chocolate pudding first. It will need at least 2 hours to firm up in the fridge. Then you'll make the cookies. Once the cookies are baked you're ready to assemble everything together.

These cookies use black cocoa powder because that's what's used in an Oreo, which is a classic element to a good dirt pudding. The cookies are rich and delicious. In a pinch you can use regular unsweetened cocoa powder, but they're best with black cocoa. I like to use this black cocoa.

A FEW NOTES BEFORE WE GET STARTED.

• Room Temperature Ingredients:
  • Butter: It’s important that your butter is softened. In a pinch, you can put your butter in the microwave for about 5 seconds on each side, but watch closely to make sure it is just softening and not melting.
  • Eggs: You'll want to make sure that the eggs are at room temperature to ensure that they are properly incorporated into your pudding and your cookies. If you forget to leave them out before you start, place them in a bowl of warm water for about 15 minutes until they become room temperature.
• Measuring Your Ingredients:
  • I strongly encourage that you use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients and ensure that you have the most accurate measurements possible.
  • However, if you don’t have a scale on hand and will be using cup measurements, make sure to use the “spoon and sweep” method when measuring to avoid packing in too much of any dry ingredient.

Whisk the sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder, and salt together in a saucepan. Cook on low heat, gradually streaming in the milk a little at a time and ensuring that the cornstarch does not clump. Continue to cook over low medium heat, whisking occasionally and scraping the sides of the pot as the mixture continues to warm.

Meanwhile, in a medium heatproof bowl, whisk together the heavy cream and egg yolks. Once the cocoa mixture on the stove has started to bubble a little, prepare to temper the heavy cream and egg mixture. While constantly whisking the heavy cream mixture, carefully pour in a little of the hot milk mixture to temper it for a few seconds.

Pour all of the mixture back into the saucepan and continue to cook over medium high heat, whisking constantly until the pudding thickens and begins to boil up like hot lava. Be sure to scrape the sides of the pot and keep a close eye on the pudding.

Remove the pudding from the heat and strain through a strainer into a medium bowl. Whisk in the vanilla and chocolate.

Transfer pudding to a heat safe bowl or multiple heat safe bowls and cover with plastic wrap by placing the plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding to avoid a skin from forming. Chill for at least two hours.

Preheat oven to 350º F. Whisk the flour, black cocoa, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl and set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, and melted chocolate on medium speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture and mix until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Using a 2 tablespoon scoop, form cookies into balls and place each cookie a few inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10-11 minutes or until cookies are firm around the edges.

Let the cookies cool for about 10 minutes on the baking sheet before carefully moving them to a cooling rack. Once the pudding has chilled, transfer it to a pastry bag or a plastic ziploc with the tip cut off.

Starting on the outside rim of the top of a cookie, pipe the pudding in a swirl design, moving closer to the center as you pipe until the entire cookie is covered. Make sure to leave a little bit of a border along the edge so the pudding doesn't fall off the sides.

Use an offset spatula to spread out the pudding slightly. Cover pudding with crushed Oreos and add a gummy worm on top. Repeat this process with the rest of the cookies. Enjoy!

Print