The Vintage No-Bake Dessert That Will Hit You Right In The Nostalgia

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For many, the 1980s were a magical time, replete with graphic tiles in the kitchens where we munched now-discontinued sugar cereals and watched Saturday morning cartoons on the tube TV visible from the living room. A delicious, gloriously low-effort dessert that takes us straight back to the Reagan era is dirt cake, which originated in the Midwest some 40-odd years ago. Generations of kids have grown up eating these trifles at birthday parties, with pudding layered beneath cookie "dirt" and, if you were lucky, squiggly gummy worms emerging from the top. Here's the thing about dirt cake, though: it's clearly for kids, but pretty much everyone loves it. We aren't too haughtily adult to admit that we would happily munch up some dirt cake now.

Your basic dirt cake, like a no-bake cake featuring fellow '80s icons Little Debbie snacks, utilizes packaged ingredients to create something much greater than the sum of its parts. Crumble up your cookies (Oreos are classic) and set them aside. Next, you will concoct your filling from softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla extract. Into this bowl, whip milk and your favorite flavor of pudding. Layer your cookie dust at the bottom of individual cups, spoon in some pudding mix, add more cookies, and then repeat with one more layer apiece. Feel free to top your dirt cups with any treats that your heart desires. Chill them and serve ... ideally with a colored plastic spoon for the ultimate blast from the past.

While your normal dirt cake is made with chocolate pudding and Oreo cookies to really play up the soil-esque visual presentation, there's no need for you to adhere to that combination. If you are dead set on Oreos, pistachio pudding is a fun and delicious swap that mixes things up a bit. Another very basic variation involves using vanilla pudding instead of chocolate, which really makes your chocolate sandwich cookies "pop" when viewed in a clear vessel. Feeling the whole vanilla vibe? Try using crushed graham crackers for a dirt cake that isn't cocoa-based.

Alternatively, how about a play on a coconut cream pie with coconut pudding and crushed coconut cookies, optionally scattered with pineapple tidbits for a tropical feel? We also love the idea of pumpkin spice or butterscotch pudding and crumbled snickerdoodles! Maybe some strawberry pudding and Biscoff cookies for a dessert akin to strawberry cheesecake ... again, with or without the addition of fresh fruit.

We also have the most fun mixing up the festive toppings on our dirt pies, regardless of whether we are actually serving children. Nerds candy makes a great "rock" display in your edible soil, to say nothing of candy corn pumpkins, Teddy Grahams, animal crackers, or even little dwellings made of candy building blocks. Basically, there's no end to the creative possibilities, which is one of the things we love most about dirt cake.