Dirt Squares

 

  I asked my niece, Annie, what she'd like for her high school graduation party. She texted me back: "I do enjoy Dirt. You know, that chocolate pudding thing with crushed Oreos and gummy worms."
 I said "So.. out of ANYTHING in the world you could possibly have from renowned internet cooking sensation, Joey Quaile, you choose crushed Oreos, chocolate pudding, and gummy worms? LOL"  She said "Surprise me!"
 So, of course, you know I couldn't just make pudding and crushed Oreos! Well, for one thing, I knew it would be a big party, and regular Dirt requires spoons and cups or plates. Whenever I'm bringing something to a party, I always like it to be a "picky uppy" something that guests can just grab and nosh. (btw, picky uppy is a technical term, in case you didn't know). Then I thought, I wonder if there's a dirt recipe that you can cut into squares! So I did some searching, and I found this recipe from Women's Day. Perfect! No spoons or cups required, and T-Swizzle can have her Dirt. (yes, that's what we call each other. LOL)
 So there you go. Make this for your next big party when you want something different and easy and fun and yummy and picky uppy. I promise it'll be a big hit! Congrats T-Swizzle!

1 stick butter
1/2 c. packed light-brown sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
1 c. Kit Kat Bites (from a 10-oz bag)
1 c. Heath Almond Toffee Bits (from a 10-oz bag)
1/2 c. white-chocolate chips
25 OREO Cookies
gummy worms


 Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13 x 9 x 2-in. baking pan with parchment paper or nonstick foil,  extending above the ends of pan. Beat butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with mixer on medium speed until well mixed. Beat in yolks and vanilla until combined. On low speed gradually beat in flour just until blended and slightly crumbly. Press evenly on bottom of pan. Bake 8 minutes, or until lightly browned around edges. Remove from oven. Pour condensed milk over crust; spread evenly. Layer with Kit Kat Bites, toffee Bits and white-chocolate chips. Sprinkle evenly with 2 cups cookie crumbs; pat down gently. Bake 25 minutes, or until bubbles form around edges. Cool on a wire rack 5 minutes, then spread some remaining crumbs over bubbles to cover and spread the rest of the crumbs over the top. Cool completely or chill. Lift foil by ends onto cutting board. Cut into 48 squares. Serve with gummy worms.


Tips:
-The recipe calls for 25 Oreos. I think you could probably go with much less. I used about 20, and it was still a bit too much. They didn't really adhere to to the top of the squares and there were cookie crumbs everywhere. Just do enough to cover the top and I'm sure it'll be fine. Btw, to make the crumbs, I just threw the cookies into the food processor and pulsed them until I had crumbs. You can also put them in a ziploc bag and bash them with a rolling pin or something heavy until you have crumbs.
- I didn't use Kit Kat Bites. I used chopped mini Milky Way bars. Use whatever candy bar you like! -One other thing... be sure to bring extra gummy worms. As you can see from my photo, I covered the whole tray with gummy worms. They were just as big of a hit as the squares! Who knew people liked gummy worms so much? Seriously, everyone who walked by, grabbed a gummy worm and they were gone in no time. I kept wishing I had brought the extras from home, just to keep the whole dirt thing going. Live and learn!