Worms in dirt chocolate pudding is a Halloween classic for a reason: it's delightfully ghoulish and just so happens to be incredibly delicious! Get in on the fun with our from-scratch recipe made with real chocolate milk.

This post was written in partnership with America’s milk brands and farm families.

Worms and dirt aren’t necessarily words that you see associated with food. But when Halloween comes around, all bets are off when it comes to creating spooky food for the kids!

If you’ve yet to make worms in dirt chocolate pudding, it’s super easy. And here we’re making them extra chocolatey thanks to a from-scratch pudding made with real chocolate milk.

To assemble, you simply crumble chopped chocolate sandwich cookies (the dirt!) on top of the pudding and place a few gummy worms into the crumbs. Delightfully gross!

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Make Ahead Strategies

When making pudding from scratch, you need to let it cool in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours before serving, but letting it chill overnight is really best.

For this recipe, you can make the pudding up to 5 days ahead of time. You can even crumble the cookies in a resealable bag and leave the crumbs in the bag until you’re ready to make the desserts. Just assemble the worms in “dirt” right before serving them!

Prep for Chilling

When making pudding from scratch you will end up with “pudding skin” on top of each cup unless you place a piece of parchment or wax paper on the warm pudding before chilling it. Some folks like the pudding skin and find the paper too fussy, while others live for super smooth pudding. You decide which route suits you best!

What’s the Best Chocolate To Use?

When making chocolate pudding from scratch, pick your favorite chocolate to eat! If you like your chocolate sweeter, pick a milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate. If you prefer a less sweet dessert, go with a bittersweet chocolate or one with a higher cacao percentage.