How to Make a No-Bake Easter Dirt Cake That Kids Will Love

Picture an Easter egg hunt on your front lawn. That’s the scene on top of this Easter dirt cake! This is one of our 13×9 cake recipes that needs no baking and can be assembled quickly. Perhaps best of all, it’s a dessert that kids can help make.

The cake features a whipped cream and cream cheese filling layered with crushed Oreo cookies. It’s topped with shredded coconut grass, Peeps marshmallows and chocolate eggs. It’s easily one of the cutest Easter treats for your holiday brunch.

Ingredients

• Cream cheese: For a smooth texture, soften the cream cheese in advance or use a microwave to soften it quickly.
• Confectioners’ sugar: The fine texture of this type of sugar is ideal because it dissolves quickly with no grittiness.
• Instant pudding mix: Instant pudding gives the filling an extra creamy texture. We use vanilla in our version, but you can use chocolate, too!
• Cold milk: You can use whole or 2% milk to blend with the pudding mix.
• Frozen whipped topping: Let the topping thaw in the fridge or on the countertop before blending it into the dirt cake filling.
• Oreos: The chocolate cookies give this cake its “dirt” appearance. Crush Oreos (or one of these off-brand Oreos) in a sealed bag with a rolling pin or in a food processor.
• Butter: You can use salted or unsalted butter; a small amount is blended with the cream cheese and sugar to create a smooth filling.
• Shredded coconut: This ingredient does double duty. It adds coconut flavor and, with the help of some food coloring, creates a grassy look.
• Green food coloring: To dye the coconut, you only need a few drops of food coloring. Kids will love to help with this step.
• Peeps: Bring your dirt cake landscape to life with Peeps creatures. Use bunnies or chicks—or both!
• Chocolate eggs: It’s hardly Easter without eggs. Egg-shaped chocolates, malted milk eggs or Easter M&M’s decorate the grassy top of the cake.

Directions

Step 1: Prepare the dirt cake

Make our classic dirt dessert recipe: Blend cream cheese, butter and confectioners’ sugar in one bowl, and mix the pudding mix and milk in another bowl. Fold the pudding into the cream cheese mixture and then fold in the thawed whipped topping.

Layer crushed Oreos in the bottom of a 13×9-inch baking dish, followed by half of the creamy filling; repeat both layers. Cover the dish and refrigerate it for one hour.

Step 2: Color the shredded coconut green

Pour 2 cups of sweetened shredded coconut into a resealable food storage bag. Add in a few drops of green food coloring. Seal the bag and then knead the coconut and food coloring together. Add more food coloring as needed until the coconut is a grassy shade of green.

Step 3: Decorate the dirt cake

Sprinkle the green coconut over the top of the dirt cake to make it look like a grassy lawn. Decorate the grass with Peeps bunnies or chicks and chocolate Easter eggs. Your Easter dirt cake is ready to serve!

Easter Dirt Cake Variations

• Decorate with other candy: There are so many sweets to try with this cake: jelly beans, sprinkles, mini chocolate rabbits or Easter candy corn.
• Make it with cake mix: Bake one of our Test Kitchen-recommended boxed yellow cake mixes into a 13×9-inch cake and cover it with vanilla buttercream frosting. Sprinkle crushed Oreos over the top, or fold them into the frosting before frosting the cake. Top the cake with green coconut grass and Easter candy.
• Create individual Easter dirt cakes: Layer the creamy filling and crushed Oreos in parfait cups, clear drink cups or ramekins. Top them with the coconut grass, Peeps and eggs.
• Try edible Easter grass: Skip the green coconut and top your cake with edible Easter grass (shreds of a green, gummy-like candy). Find it at stores like Michael’s or on Amazon.

Tips for Making Easter Dirt Cake

Can I make Easter dirt cake ahead?

Yes, the Easter dirt cake can be made in advance. After layering the creamy filling and Oreos, cover the pan tightly and refrigerate it. You can do this up to two days ahead of time. Wait to add the coconut grass and candy decorations until just before serving the cake.

Set up a make-your-own dirt cake station

Kids (and let’s be honest, adults, too!) will love decorating their own Easter dirt cakes. After layering the crushed Oreos and cream filling into individual cups or ramekins, top each one with green coconut grass. Set the cups out on a table along with small bowls of toppings like chocolate eggs, jelly beans, Peeps and sprinkles so the whole family can decorate their own dirt cake. Encourage kids to create an Easter scene on their cake rather than just loading the cups with candy!