Apple Butter This is best cooked in a 12-gallon copper pot, ”2 gallons apple cider (“soft” variety) 4-5 bushels Winesap apples 20 pounds of sugar 1 quart sorghum molasses Cinnamon to taste Nutmeg to taste Peel and slice all apples in sight. Bring apple cider to a full boil in copper pot over an open fire. Cook apples down to a sauce, then add molasses and sugar. Cook mixture from 8:30 on a cool fall morning to 5:30 that night, stirring vigorously throughout the day. During the last 2 hours of cooking, add nutmeg and cinnamon.Pack apple butter in sterilized jars and seal them in a boiling bath canner.Recipe makes about 8 gallons Back To Canning Recipes.