While I’m on my apple kick, I figured I’d share another family-favorite fall recipe: Crock-pot apple-pear sauce, otherwise known as the gift that keeps on giving.

Not only do you get to have fun hitting up the orchard to collect bushels of fruit (or in our case, my in-laws’ backyard — thanks, guys!), but then you get to come home and reap the benefits of its deliciousness.

What I especially love about this recipe — well, besides the eating part — is that it’s practically foolproof. Three ingredients, loose directions, and in a few hours you’ll have some pretty amazing sauce to share (…or not).

Crock-Pot Apple-Pear Sauce

Ingredients:

• ~20 small apples (your favorite variety)
• ~10 pears (I use Bosc)
• Cinnamon stick

Directions:

1. Rinse, dry, peel and roughly chop enough of the apples and pears to fill your Crock-pot to the top. Add a stick of cinnamon.
2. Turn Crock-pot on low and cook fruit until it starts to break down (a few hours), stirring occasionally.
3. When fruit has cooked down (i.e. darkened up and gotten mushy), remove cinnamon stick and use spoon to break up any remaining large chunks.
4. Let cool before eating. If desired, use an immersion blender to blend to a smooth consistency, but I like the rustic, chunky kind of sauce!

Hint: I like to have a few extra apples and pears on hand; as the fruit breaks down, it takes up less room in the Crock-pot (if you start with it full to the brim, you’ll end up with a half batch), so I’ll add more fruit as it cooks to end up with a full batch.

Here’s the “before” — with fresh fruit and a cinnamon stick in the Crock-pot just as I turned it on. Resist the urge to add water or sugar (you’ll see why when you taste the finished product).

And the “during” in which the fruit starts to brown up and break down. Be sure to stir regularly to avoid it sticking to the sides and bottom.

And since I started this batch in the afternoon and added more fresh fruit before bedtime, I let it cook on low overnight so we’d wake up to a sweet surprise with breakfast the next morning!

Are you as apple-obsessed as I am in fall?