The Official New York State Apple Muffin

The official muffin of New York State, the Apple Muffin, was created by elementary school children in North Syracuse.

Ingredients:
2 cups New York State Empire apples, coarsely chopped
2 cups flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 ounces cream cheese, cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Topping:
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon peel, grated
2 tablespoons melted butter

Cooking time: 25m

Directions
For topping: Combine ingredients and set aside.
Combine flour, sugar, salt, spices and baking soda; set aside.
Combine apples, raisins, walnuts, eggs, butter, cream cheese and vanilla. Add dry ingredients, a little at a time, to the apple mixture.  Stir until just combined.  Do not over mix.  Portion batter into muffin papers, sprinkle with topping.  Bake at 375̊ for 20-25 minutes. Makes two dozen muffins.

Sounds good, huh? They were just okay. Maybe it was because I didn't make the topping (I just sprinkled on some raw sugar), but I wasn't super impressed with the muffins. They seemed to have too much baking soda taste, which is weird since there are only 2 teaspoons for the two dozen muffins. Maybe my expectations were too high.