Ants on a Log Cupcakes

Cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Put the butter and peanut butter into the bowl of a stand mixer and mix until smooth. Add the sugar and eggs and continue to beat. Add the vanilla and mix for 1 more minute. Set aside.

Put the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar mixture, and mix until combined. Add the milk. Once combined add the rest of the dry ingredients. Carefully fold in the peanut butter morsels.

Put paper liners into each hole of a 12-count muffin tin. Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full. You should have enough batter for about 12-14 cupcakes so you may need to use another pan if you have too much batter. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:
Add the butter and powdered sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until combined. Add the rum and salt. Mix 1 more minute. Fold in the raisins. Set aside. Once cupcakes are cooled, you can spread or pipe the frosting onto the top of each.

Candied celery:
Cut the celery into 1 inch pieces. Heat the water and 1 cup of sugar in a skillet over medium-low heat. Once the water is hot, add the celery. Coat the celery in the sugar/water mixture. Cook for about 10 minutes on medium/low heat. Remove the celery from the heat and transfer the celery to a Ziploc bag. Add the remaining 1 cup of sugar. Shake to coat the celery. Transfer the celery to a plate and the sugar will harden.

Note: If you are going to garnish the cupcakes with the candied celery, wait til just before serving so that the sugar doesn’t melt and leave a pool of liquid in the frosting.