Start By Making The Pudding*

1. Whisk Dry Ingredients. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk to combine well.

2. Pour In Milk. Add the milk to the cocoa mixture and whisk to combine. It will take a second to combine, and it will look pretty foamy at first.

3. Cook To Thicken. Whisk the milk mixture over medium heat until the pudding begins to thicken. You want to stir pretty constantly, so the pudding doesn’t form lumps. You’ll know it’s thickened when any foamy bubbles go away, and you can see the path of the whisk in the pudding as you stir. Remove from the heat.

4. Finish. Immediately add chocolate, butter, and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine until the chocolate is melted. If desired, you can strain the pudding through a fine mesh sieve to remove any small lumps, but I don’t usually.

5. Cover & Chill. Transfer the pudding to a large bowl, airtight container, or individual serving cups. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap or food wrap so the pudding doesn’t develop a “skin” (a layer of thickened pudding on top). Chill in the refrigerator 2-3 hours or until completely cool. Leftover chocolate pudding will keep covered in the fridge 3-4 days, so you can mix it up in advance, if needed. (You may need to stir it a bit to loosen it up for scooping) 

Next, Make The Oreo “Dirt”

1. Crush. Add gluten-free Oreo cookies to a food processor and pulse to break the cookies up into coarse crumbs. It’s ok if there are a few larger crumbles, but you want it to look like dirt or soil. (If you don’t have a food processor, add the cookies to a large ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling pin or the back of a sturdy measuring cup.)

Assemble The Dirt Pudding:

1. For Individual Portions With A Layered Look. To each individual cup, add 1-2 Tablespoons of the cookie crumb mixture. Add 1/4 cup pudding, then top with 1-2 Tablespoons of cookie crumbs. Add another 1/4 cup pudding and finish with 1-2 Tablespoons of cookie crumbs. Place 2-3 gummy worms into the top layer of cookie crumbs.

2. For Simple Individual Portions. If you prefer, you can also skip making multiple layers. Add about 1/2 cup of pudding to each cup and top with 2 Tablespoons of Oreo “dirt” (You’ll only need about 1/2 a package of cookies if you do this)

3. For One Large Pudding. Start with 1/3 of the cookie crumbs. Add 2 cups chocolate pudding, 1/3 of the cookie crumbs, the second 2 cups of pudding, and finish with the final 1/3 of the cookie crumbs. Tuck gummy worms into the top layer of cookie crumbs.

4. Chill. Next, chill the pudding uncovered for 2-3 hours to set up more firmly. (These pudding cups can be chilled for up to 2 days in advance).

5. Serve. Enjoy after chilling and store leftover pudding for up to 2 days in the refrigerator.