Dirt Cupcakes

Dirt Cupcakes: Each rich chocolate fudge cupcake is topped with fluffy homemade chocolate buttercream, Oreo dirt, and a wiggly gummy worm for a whimsical dessert that is fun for kids of all ages!

This is our take on a classic worms in dirt dessert but in cupcake form. You may remember seeing the Oreo crumbs on our Pumpkin Patch Brownies. I think a few gummy worms in that dirt would be pretty darn cute, too!

 

Why you’ll love this recipe for dirt cake cupcakes

Who doesn’t love a cute cupcake? Cupcakes with gummy worms are perfect for a garden party, bug themed birthday or a Halloween party. And boy, have we got lots of Halloween food ideas for your parties. I even think these cupcakes are a fun dessert for an Earth Day celebration!

You can make this easy recipe with ingredients from your local grocery store: a chocolate cake mix, chocolate frosting, Oreo cookies and gummy worms. I love recipes with simple ingredients and easy directions.

Jump to:

• Why you’ll love this recipe for dirt cake cupcakes
• Ingredients
• How to Make Gummy Worm Dirt Cupcakes
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Storage
• Related Recipes
• Recipe
• Comments

Ingredients

Here is what you will need to make gummy worm dirt cupcakes:

To make the cupcakes

• One box of chocolate fudge cake mix + the ingredients required on the box

For the chocolate cream cheese frosting

• ½ cup milk chocolate chips, melted
• 8 oz. (one block) of cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup (1 stick) of butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• ½ cup cocoa powder

For the Oreo dirt

• 15 Oreo cookies, crushed into crumbs

Cupcake toppings

• 24 Gummy worms
• Plastic spider rings, optional

See the recipe card for quantities, full instructions and notes.

How to Make Gummy Worm Dirt Cupcakes

Bake the cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven according to the directions on the chocolate cake mix. Line two cupcake pans/muffins tins with cupcakes papers and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, prepare the cake mix according to package instructions.
3. Spoon the cupcake batter into the liners, filling them about ⅔ full. Bake as per the instructions on the box and allow the cupcakes to cool completely.

Make the chocolate cream cheese frosting

4. Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl for 30 seconds and stir. Continuing microwaving the chocolate in 15 second intervals until it is melted and smooth.
5. In a large mixing bowl using a stand mixer or a handheld mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese together until smooth and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate and mix well. Add the powdered sugar gradually until it is combined. Mix in the cocoa powder. Add the vanilla extract and mix one more time. Set frosting aside.

For the Oreo dirt crumbs

6. Place the Oreo cookies into a food processor and pulse them until they are crumbs. Set aside.

Let’s decorate the cupcake

7. Frost each cupcake with the chocolate buttercream. You can spread the frosting with an offset spatula or use a piping bag fitted with a 1M tip (the large open star) to pipe the frosting onto the top of the cupcakes.
8. Dip the cupcake into the bowl of Oreo dirt or sprinkle a few spoonfuls of Oreo dirt on top of the frosting. Place a gummy worm in the center of each cupcake.
9. For a spooky twist, add a plastic spider ring to the top of the cupcakes. Or, you can poke the gummy worms into the frosting so they look like they are wiggling out.

Substitutions

Feel free to use any of the suggested substitutions below if you need to know how to make gummy worm cupcakes fit for your family and lifestyle.

• Homemade chocolate cake – We love the time saving step of using a cake mix, but if you have a favorite chocolate cake or cupcake recipe, you can use that instead.
• Store-bought frosting – While the homemade frosting in this recipe is amazing, you can absolutely use your favorite purchased frosting if you are in a time crunch.
• Cookie crumbs – Substitute your favorite chocolate cookies or for the crumbs

Variations

There are so many ways to switch up elements in this recipe for Oreo dirt cupcakes to fit your family!

• Gummy worms – Use your favorite brand or type of gummy worms. Classic gummy worms or even sour worms will work. You can even use gummy bugs and add chocolate rocks.
• Oreo flavors – You can get creative and use different flavors of Oreos for the Oreo dirt. We prefer the dark chocolate cookies, but you can use the golden Oreos if that is what you can find.
• Frosting flavors – Try making classic chocolate buttercream, caramel buttercream or even Oreo buttercream to top these cupcakes.
• Add a pudding center – If you really want to up the chocolate factor of these cupcakes, hollow out a small piece of each cupcake center (keep the piece of cake!) and spoon in a tablespoon of chocolate pudding. Replace the piece of cake and continue frosting and topping the cupcakes.
• Make dino dig cupcakes – If you aren’t into wiggly worms, this cupcake base with Oreo dirt could easily become dinosaur themed. Just add a dinosaur cupcake topper or chocolate dinosaurs to the top of each cupcake. Around Halloween, you may even be able to find candy bones to add to the dinosaur dig cupcakes.

Storage

We recommend storing any leftover dirt worm cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature. If you prefer, you can store the cupcakes in the refrigerator, but they could dry out.

The Oreo crumbs will soften after cupcake assembly but they will still taste delicious!

Related Recipes

Love cupcake recipes? Then we think you’ll also love these Oreo cupcakes and caramel cupcakes!

Or, if you’re looking for Halloween treats, then you’re really going to love these mummy cookies, Halloween snack mix, and mummy rice krispy treats!

Did you make this? I’d be so grateful if you left a “star” rating below to let me know what you thought! Then, the next time you need a quick and easy recipe, come back to Fantabulosity to browse all of my easy recipes!

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