If You Grew Up In The '90s, You Definitely Ate This Afternoon Snack (It's So Easy To Make)

The 1990s may have been the peak moment to be a child. The internet hadn't yet begun to dominate everything, and the technicolor explosion of products marketed at children was everywhere. You can still buy some of those '90s snacks today, things that made sense at the time despite their peculiarity — like Fruit by the Foot and Go-Gurt — but many now only exist in our collective memory. Away from these hyper-processed sugar and dye-laden packaged snacks, however, there were also some healthier, more natural foods that managed to claim a spot in the zeitgeist — perhaps none more so than ants on a log.

Ants on a log, for the few out there that may not have heard of it before, is a simple snack of sliced celery filled with peanut butter and topped with raisins. The raisins are, of course, the metaphorical ants, marching their way down a celery-and-peanut-butter log. Aside from being one of the vintage dishes with the weirdest names, ants on a log is also the perfect after-school snack for kiddos. The base is a crisp vegetable loaded with nutrients, the peanut butter has plenty of energy to refill the tanks and tide the little ones over until dinner, and the raisins are, well, fun.

This creative way to eat celery didn't start in the '90s, but it was certainly a regular snack in kitchens around the U.S. during that period. The exact origins are actually quite mysterious, with no one able to lay claim to the first iteration of the recipe, but we do know that ants on a log have been around since at least the mid-20th century.

Frankly, it's somewhat surprising that ants on a log managed to persist into the age of Gushers and the myriad other psychedelic-colored sugar-based snacks, but a '90s snack it was. In the age of the internet, however, food trends move a bit faster than they used to, and classics like this just don't stand up like they used to. On the plus side, though, this is also the age of recipe blogs and short-form food videos, meaning that anyone with a keyboard has access to countless interesting new takes on this classic snack.

Perhaps the simplest, most tried-and-true upgrade to ants on a log is simply swapping the raisins for chocolate chips. Just like with oatmeal cookies, this swap is a guaranteed win. Sure, it's maybe a little less healthy, but if your kid's eating celery for a snack, you're doing alright. Beyond chocolate chips, though, there are plenty of other items that you can sub in for the "ants." Fresh fruits like blueberries, grapes, or pomegranate pips can all do the trick, or you can have a bit of fun and line the celery with animal crackers.

Turning ants on a log into a savory snack is another popular choice, particularly for those wishing to make something more appealing to an older audience. Combinations like hummus and olives, goat cheese and dried cherries, or even smoked salmon cream cheese and capers all meet the internet-ready requirement of being an interesting alteration of something recognizable. Plus, they appeal to both the palates and the sense of nostalgia of a more aged population — those '90s kids who grew up on the original.