Halloween Graveyard Cake

Do you remember eating chocolate “dirt” pudding cups with crushed cookies and worms at every Halloween party as a kid? My birthday falls just before Halloween, and this is something I requested at every costume party from the time I was 6 until I turned 10.

Now I’m delighted to introduce my own kids (and our neighbors) to this classic treat. Here’s how you can make your own party-sized graveyard cake this Halloween.

• It’s the perfect treat for Halloween. Halloween is the best holiday to play with your food, and this graveyard cake is so much fun to put together.
• It’s the easiest no-bake dessert. All you need to do is make the chocolate pudding, refrigerate it for 30 minutes, then decorate!

Graveyard cake is a spooky Halloween dessert that’s decorated to look like a graveyard. Here we use chocolate pudding as the base, topped with crushed Oreo cookies (the “dirt”), Milano cookies (the “gravestones”), and assorted candy like gummy worms and pumpkin candy corn to achieve the graveyard look. It’s like an upgraded dirt pudding for Halloween!

While I appreciate the pure joy of homemade pudding, when I am cooking with my two eager children I skip the from-scratch chocolate pudding and turn to the quicker instant box. But the box still needs a little help.

The trick for making this pudding thick enough to hold the cookie dirt and graves is to use slightly less milk for the pudding than the package calls for.

• Instant chocolate pudding: Use slightly less milk than what the package calls for.
• Whole milk: Use whole milk for a creamy, rich chocolate pudding.
• Chocolate sandwich cookies: Choose your favorite brand, like Oreo cookies.
• Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies: These cookies are perfect for the “gravestones”.
• Candy: Decorate the graveyard cake with assorted Halloween candy like gummy worms and pumpkin candy corn.

1. Make the pudding. Combine the pudding mix with the milk and whisk to combine. Pour into a 13×9-inch baking dish and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Crush the chocolate sandwich cookies. While the pudding sets, place the chocolate sandwich cookies in a large zip-top bag and crush using a rolling pin.
3. Decorate. Top the pudding with the crushed cookies and place a Milano cookie every 2 inches, staggering their placement, to look like a graveyard. Add gummy worms and pumpkin candy corn, if using.

• Halloween Chocolate Boo Bark
• Witches’ Broomsticks Halloween Pretzel Treats
• Halloween Haunted Cookie House
• Peanut Butter and Chocolate Graveyard Dirt Cake
• Halloween Party Mix