Apple Raisin Muffins

Ok, so go with me on this one...
I was originally gonna write about how much I love apples and how great the fall weather is for baking apple desserts, and how this is a tweaked version of a Paula Deen recipe, and blah blah blah, but here's the thing... after the first attempt at making these, I figured I'd write about something MUCH more important than having a great recipe. And that is FOLLOWING a really great recipe. Seriously, what good is having a great recipe if you don't do what it says???  So basically, when it says to add 2 tsps of baking soda, it's really not a great idea to add baking POWDER.
I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin..... btw... these muffins are slammin'....

1 cup water
2 cups sugar
2 cups grated Granny Smith apples
2 cups raisins
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
1 tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the water, sugar, apples, raisins, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and salt in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and cool completely.
In a large bowl, stir baking soda into the flour. Add the cooled mixture to the bowl, and stir until blended. Fill greased miniature muffin tins with batter to the top. Bake for 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick come out clean. Makes 5 dozen mini muffins.

Tips:
If you're not a fan of raisins, try a different kind of dried fruit, such as dried raisins, dried apricots, or dried blueberries.
To grease the muffin pans, I usually just use non stick spray for baking (the one that has flour in it). It's just so much easier!