Halloween Dirt Pudding

KK and I went to a groovy party last night! My old roommate and her boyfriend hosted a potluck Murder Mystery night.  In all honesty, I was a little skeptical at first, but it ended up being a great night! Thanks to the Saturday Night Cleaver kit, we had proper invitations, disco music, and detailed character profiles.  We skipped the suggested costumes, but there were several faux-New Yawker accents flying around the room all evening.  My "husband," Stan A. Live, was the victim and, by the end of the evening, everyone was accusing everyone of the murder! Along with a cheesy murder mystery, we enjoyed some great food during the potluck portion of the evening: pumpkin muffins, pasta salad, crockpot lasagna, chicken and rice, chili in bread bowls, and apple cupcakes.  To top it off, I also made a spooky rendition of dirt pudding! I'll admit: I had some for dessert last night... and with lunch today... and I'm planning to have some after dinner tonight, too!! As KK said in his contribution to this post, "YUM!"

I don't know why, but dirt pudding reminds me of my childhood.  It's so easy to put together, and it tastes great! I preferred this version of the dirt pudding over the Easter Trifle I made earlier this year; although the trifle was good, it was a little dense because of the brownies.  I used one package of regular Oreos and one Double Stuffed.  It would be interesting to try some of the other Oreo varieties: golden, mint, peanut butter, or birthday cake.  If, like me, you don't have time to let your butter and cream cheese come to room temperature, soften them in the microwave; check every 10 seconds as they soften.  I also nuked the Cool Whip for 15 seconds because it was frozen solid and would've been impossible to combine with the pudding.  You can choose whatever flavors of pudding you prefer - chocolate, dark chocolate, vanilla... the possibilities are (somewhat) endless! I'm not a huge chocolate fan, so I used one package of chocolate and one of vanilla.  I threw a couple of gummy worms into the pudding as I was layering, then stuck the rest into the top layer of Oreos before refrigerating the pudding.  To add a Halloween twist to the dirt, I added the ghost Peeps and candy corn pumpkins when it was time to serve dessert.  Enjoy!

Dirt Pudding

Adapted from Neighbor Food Blog
Time: 25 minutes + 3 hours refrigeration
Serves: A lot!

Ingredients
2 packages Oreos, regular or Double Stuffed
8 Tbsp butter, melted
4 Tbsp butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
3 1/2 cups milk
2 small boxes instant pudding
16 oz. Cool Whip, lite or regular
Gummy worms, Peeps, Candy Corn for topping

Directions
1. Place Oreos in a large Ziploc bag; use a rolling pin to crush cookies.  Pour melted butter into the bag and shake to combine.

2. Using a Kitchen Aid or electric mixer on medium high speed, beat softened butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add cream cheese and sugar; beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.  Add milk and pudding.  Beat on low until partially combined, then increase speed to high and beat until pudding begins to thicken; fold in Cool Whip.

3. Assemble the dirt in a trifle dish or large glass bowl.  Begin and end with a layer of Oreos, alternating with a layer of pudding over top; repeat until both are gone.  Stick gummy worms into the dirt pudding on top.  Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight; serve cold.