Super rich chocolate pudding, cookie “dirt” crumbs, and sweet gummy worms, these vegan paleo dirt cups are an easy healthier halloween treat!
The nostalgic spooky-season dessert with maybe the least delicious name, but the most delicious mix of chocolate creamy and cookie crumbly and candy chewy more than makes up for it in my book.
As a kid, dirt cups always felt like cheating the dessert system: “I get a fruity gummy dessert AND a chocolate dessert? In the same cup? And I only ate the one vegetable to get here? Are we sure this is allowed?” Major seven-year-old victory right there.
And then you grow up and realize the “dirt” is actually cookies so you get pudding and cookies and candy so it’s actually THREE DESSERTS IN ONE. So yeah, that magic is still alive.
How To Make Healthier Halloween Dirt Cups
And let me just keep this too-good-to-be-true streak going by telling you that these Chocolate Pudding Dirt Cups are made with an easy homemade chocolate pudding recipe, vegan and paleo friendly cookie crumble options, and some better for you gummy recs too.
Cookie “Dirt” Ingredients
- Chocolate cookies. You can make them, you can buy them, just make sure they are crispy and chocolatey. Or if you really wanna healthy-up this recipe, you can use a chocolate cereal for the dirt layer instead.
- Cocoa powder. Or cacao powder, to add an extra chocolatey boost.
- Coconut oil. To bind and create the perfect clumpy crumbly texture. You could use a runny nut butter if you want to keep the recipe oil-free.
Chocolate Pudding Ingredients
- Coconut milk. This pudding recipe is not thickened with a starch of any sort, so we need a richer milk to create that thick ultra creamy pudding texture. I used THIS canned coconut milk, but any full-fat coconut milk will work.
- Almond milk. We don’t want the pudding to be TOO thick, so the balance of coconut + almond milk creates the perfect rich but also pudding-y texture.
- Coconut sugar. To sweeten, but any sort of granulated sweetener will work.
- Cocoa powder. Because we gotta make sure these dirt cups are ULTRA chocolatey.
- Vanilla and salt. Because chocolate recipes are always better with those two in the mix.
- Dark chocolate chips. Or semi-sweet will work too. Added right at the end to thicken and chocolate-en the pudding even more.
More Halloween Recipes You’ll Love
- Dark Chocolate Halloween Cupcakes
- SunButter Butterfingers
- Pumpkin Truffle Bars
- Mini Pumpkin Cakes
- Nightmare Before Christmas Cookies
Chocolate Pudding Dirt Cups
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 4 cups 1x
- Category: chocolate
- Method: no bake
- Cuisine: american
Description
Super rich chocolate pudding, cookie “dirt” crumbs, and sweet gummy worms, these vegan paleo dirt cups are an easy healthier halloween treat!
Ingredients
Pudding
- 1 cup canned coconut milk
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips (I used Hu Gems)
Dirt
- 3 cups chocolate cookies (homemade or store-bought)
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
Vegan gummy worms for topping*
Instructions
- Grind cookies with cocoa powder in the food processor to fine crumbs. Add coconut oil and pulse until clumpy. Set aside.
- Combine coconut milk, almond milk, coconut sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt in a saucepan.
- Bring to a boil and whisk until cocoa and coconut sugar are dissolved and smooth.
- Add chocolate chips and continue cooking until fully melted and pudding thickens.
- Cool for 10-15 minutes. You can also refrigerate the pudding overnight for a chilled pudding.
- Divide into 4 jars, top with dirt, add gummy worms, and serve.
Keywords: chocolate, pudding, creamy, vegan, dairy-free, paleo, gluten-free, kids, halloween, healthy, dessert
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Never cared for this as a kid, but your sophisticated version is drool-worthy! And I so need to make a batch of one of your epic candy bars before the month is over =)
★★★★★
Well I guess that means you have a lot of dirt cups eating lost time to make up for in adulthood🤗😂 Ugh the last 3 months of the year are always way too many things to make in way too little time…I feel you!
Oh, hi there, Natalie,
I just made the pudding version of this recipe and we love it. It didn’t seem like it was getting very thick but I had faith it would thicken up and it did. I also thought that if it didn’t think up much it still would be heavenly.
Do you have any idea what made it thick? I was wondering if I could make it minus chocolate like a vanilla pudding. Do you think it would get thick?
Thanks,
robin
Hi Robin! So happy you tried this one. SO its the mix of the fat in the coconut milk and the chocolate chips cooling/hardening that causes the pudding to thicken as it cools. It really won’t thicken up without the chocolate chips, so a vanilla version would be tricky. For a vanilla pudding you would have to add some sort of starch (cornstarch/arrowroot/tapioca) to create the pudding texture. Hope that makes sense!
Hi Natalie,
What you said made sense and I was thinking that was the case. I was hoping i could make it without a starch.
Just made the Raspberry Chocolate Bundt Cake. Waiting for it to cool so I can have a taste. I know it will be yummy. Bundt cakes for me without Oil mostly are tricky at high altitude here in Prescott, Arizona. Even though it falls a little it will be delish.
Enjoy,
Robin
I hope the bundt cake was DELISH!! And stayed fluffy, I love that recipe😋