Ants on a log is a snack made by spreading peanut butter,

cream cheese Cream cheese is a soft, usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream.Oxford English Dictionary Stabilizers such as carob bean gum and carrageenan are often added in industrial production. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration de ...

, ricotta cheese, or another

spread Spread may refer to: Places * Spread, West Virginia Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Spread'' (film), a 2009 film. * ''$pread'', a quarterly magazine by and for sex workers * "Spread", a song by OutKast from their 2003 album ''Speakerboxxx/T ...

celery Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, ...

pretzels A pretzel (), from German pronunciation, standard german: Breze(l) ( and French / Alsatian: ''Bretzel'') is a type of baked bread made from dough that is commonly shaped into a knot. The traditional pretzel shape is a distinctive symmetrical f ...

bananas A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

and placing

raisins A raisin is a dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, the word ''raisin'' is reserved for the dar ...

(diced olives,

chocolate chips Chocolate chips or chocolate morsels are small chunks of sweetened chocolate, used as an ingredient in a number of desserts (notably chocolate chip cookies and muffins), in trail mix and less commonly in some breakfast foods such as pancakes. ...

, etc.) on top. The snack and its name is presumed to date to the 1950s, although made popular by Jayne Evans. The classic peanut butter version of ants on a log is recommended as a healthy snack by the McKinley Health Center at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

. The fun name and simple flavors appeal to children.

Origins

Stuffed celery became a popular snack in the early 1900s after the inclusion of such recipes as Celery with Roquefort in the book ''Catering for Special Occasions with Menus and Recipes'' by Fannie Merritt Farmer. Celery was most commonly stuffed with a form of cheese, most popular being cream cheese, and was often topped with capers or olives. The inventor of the peanut butter/raisin combination of the snack is unknown. However, many attribute the popularization of the combination to the Girl Scouts, where the recipe has been featured in several iterations of the Girl Scout Cookbook as far back as 1946, although at that time the recipe was titled "Celery Sticks" and did not include raisins. The first time the "Ants on a Log" snack was mentioned in print was in an article published by the Star Tribune on February 15, 1959, which reads, "Anne Marie is working on snacks. Popcorn, cheese dips, and the other night, ants on a log have been some of the foods the family has shared.”

Variants

There are numerous variations of ants on a log, including: *

Gnat A gnat () is any of many species of tiny flying insects in the dipterid suborder Nematocera, especially those in the families Mycetophilidae, Anisopodidae and Sciaridae. They can be both biting and non-biting. Most often they fly in large ...

s on a log: currants * Ants on vacation: without "ants" (raisins) * Ants on a

Slip 'n Slide Slip ’N Slide is a children's toy invented by Robert Carrier and manufactured by Wham-O. It was first sold in 1961. The main form is a plastic sheet and a method of wetting it; when the surface is wet it becomes very slippery, allowing the use ...

: add

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

on top of the peanut butter before adding raisins * Hippopotamuses on Thomases: Half

English muffin An English muffin is a small, round and flat yeast-leavened (sometimes sourdough) bread which is commonly round and tall. It is generally sliced horizontally and served toasted.David, Elizabeth (1977). ''English Bread and Yeast Cookery''. Lo ...

with peanut butter and

prune A prune is a dried plum, most commonly from the European plum (''Prunus domestica''). Not all plum species or varieties can be dried into prunes. A prune is the firm-fleshed fruit (plum) of '' Prunus domestica'' varieties that have a high so ...

In popular media

* In episode The Manager and the Salesman of The Office season 6, Erin reveals that Michael has her bring ants on a log at 2.30pm every day. * In episode Wilson Furlbee of series One Dollar season 1, Terri Mitchell’s friend offers ants on a log to the kids.

References

American snack foods Food for children {{US-cuisine-stub

Origins

Variants

In popular media

See also

References