Choco-Coco-'nana-Oat Treats & The Backstories Behind Them
This recipe is perfect for a healthy on-the-go breakfast, road trips, or healthy snacks at home. It’s also pretty bulletproof allergy wise. Kids and adults LOVE them. You can eat the batter raw or bake them into small little mini-bites. We learned this recipe when the kids were in the Early Childhood Program at the Waldorf School. The class worked together to make these for every child’s birthday celebrations, which were more special than I ever imagined. The teacher orated a story of her own creation describing the child’s character and life before they were born and how they chose which family to be born into. Every year these stories filled our hearts and brought me to tears. On top of that the teacher made each child their own felted crowns along with the back-stories (see below). These treats were the cherry on top!
Choco-Coco-’nana Treats
We have modified the original recipe over the years to suit our salty-sweetie taste buds. The original recipe was too sweet for us. I have noted below some of the substitutions and changes we have made over the years.
2 ripe bananas
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup of organic rolled oats
2/3 cup organic brown rice flour (or substitute a mixture of almond flour and coconut flour, using more almond flour than coconut).
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
A pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened dried coconut
1/4 cup of chocolate chips - dark or semi-sweet. If anyone has dairy allergies try Enjoy Life brand, dark is better as the semi-sweet is a bit too sweet.
1/4 cup or less of maple syrup - original recipe. We rarely add the maple syrup, so taste your batter before you add it. We find that ripe bananas are enough sweetness.
Mix together by hand or with a mixer. It’s yummy to eat raw as well. Once mixed, grease your mini muffin tin with coconut oil. Fill each mold to level or less.
For an added touch we add a tiny pinch of either the pure flake Jacobson Sea Salt or the one infused with vanilla on top of each before baking.
Place in oven at 350 degrees for about 8-12 minutes or until golden brown on edges.
The Before-Life Stories
Now for the back-stories.
It’s amazing to me that my kids still remember parts of these stories. No cameras were permitted at Waldorf, so I hurried home to memorialize to the best of my memory. In hindsight it was better this way because I was able to savor the story and my children’s reactions. Our teacher, Miss Barbara (and I say “our teacher” because she taught us as much or more than our children) intimately learned and connected with all of her students. She reflected upon the whole child and individualized birthday stories for them. The paradigm starts with the character development of the child and how their personalities wander throughout the wonders of their day in a place called “the heavenly meadows.” The story culminates with their discovery of the Earth and the people who live there. They find the family they want to live with. Then they cross a rainbow bridge marking the day they are born. To this day the memories of the stories are so beautiful that I am happy to forever memorialize them here for my kids to revisit. I hope I remembered it as well as Ms. Barbara orated it! Amazingly, their personalities are similar even today.
Annika’s stories
Dear Annika, you were in Ms. Barbara’s class for two years and you can see how your personality grew from her perspective from age 4 to age 5.
Age 4:
Once upon a time in the heavenly meadows there lived a quiet girl who loved to observe. One day she was standing, strong and true, in the meadows. She stared up at the sky, reached her hands up so high, but could not reach the sky. Standing very still she wondered “how can I reach the sky?” A group of butterflies came and fluttered around her. But she was so still they thought she was a flower. When she moved, she surprised the butterflies. In synchrony, they asked, “why do you stand so still?” She replied “I am wishing I could touch the beautiful sky.” In unity, they flew around her arms and body and tried to lift her - but they couldn’t. She was too strong and heavy. Later, the birds came, and they too thought the still child was a flower. She shared with them her desire to touch the sky. In unity, they tried to lift her with their wings - but again, she was too strong and heavy. She sat down on a stone next to her quiet friend, a giant tortoise, who she always fed bits of leaf and clover. She told the tortoise she wanted to touch the sky, but couldn’t. The tortoise replied “climb on my back and I will take you to a place where you can reach the sky.” Slowly but surely, the tortoise took her to the tallest tree in the meadows. “Climb the tree” he said. She climbed it with excited caution. When she reached the top - she saw something she never expected to see. She saw the Earth! And living on Earth were all these adults working hard to make it a good, safe place. Her eyes stopped upon a handsome man and a beautiful woman, full of love. She said to herself, "I would like to live with them." She climbed down from the tree and told the tortoise what she saw. He then led her to the rainbow bridge. She crossed that bridge and walked to the other side - and that marked the day Annika was born - 4 years ago.
Age 5: (This was the year her grandparents were visiting too, so they made it into the story as well!)
Once upon a time in the heavenly meadows there lived a girl among all the heavenly children. She loved to explore. She ran in the grassy meadows where the grass tickled her toes. She ran around the trees, skipping and dancing gracefully. She ran from tree to tree and stopped upon a small little hole and wondered “Who lives inside?” But she would not go in. She ran around the meadows and found another hole in the ground, and wondered “Who lives inside?” But she would not go in. She ran further and saw another small hole in a mountain that led to a cave. She wondered “Who lives inside?” But she did not go in.
Until one day she decided she had the courage to explore inside these holes. She fetched a lantern and returned to the cave near the mountain, peeked in, and saw crystals everywhere! Beautiful crystals of purples, whites, and pinks captured her eyes. Unafraid, she went inside and in the distance she saw two blinking lights - shiny, like diamonds. They were the eyes of a tiny bear. She asked, “Do you live here alone?” “Yes,” he said. “Can I feel your fur?” she asked. Yes, he nodded. When she stroked the fur it was as soft as the softest sweater. She looked at him and said “I will come back every day and bring you honey,” because she knew bears loved honey.
Then she decided to travel into the hole in the ground. She was not afraid to peek in. She looked in and saw a family of animals with long ears and twitching noses. It was a family of bunnies. She petted the bunnies between the ears. There was a momma, a daddy and so many baby bunnies. They were so tiny she could hold one in the palm of her little hand. “I will come often to visit”, she said.
Then she went to the tree, found that tiny hole, and started squeeze her way inside. She climbed up and learned that the tree was hollow all the way to the top. There she found a squirrel named Nutkin. Nutkin showed her where he hid his nuts and acorns. “Wow, thank you for sharing your hiding place with me,” she said. He then climbed out of the tree onto a long strong branch and she followed. From there she gasped at the view of all the heavenly meadows and beyond. Until… she saw the Earth - with oceans, forests, jungles and cities! She saw adults and children playing. The adults were all working hard to make the world a beautiful place. She saw a tall handsome man and a beautiful woman full of love. She also saw their parents who were smiling and equally full of love. She uttered, "I would like to go live with them!" She climbed out of the tree to find the heavenly angel and ask her if she could take her to Earth to live with this family. The angel flew her across the meadows to the rainbow bridge. The girl crossed the bridge and on that day, Annika was born - 5 years ago.
Xander’s story
Dear Xander, you had one glorious year with Ms. Barbara and she already knew you as Annika’s little brother full of quiet love. She saw you come with me to drop Annika off at her cubby and give her a hug and kiss every morning. I remember one time you two had forgotten your morning hug and you got in the car and said…. “mama, I forgot to hug Ani!” And you never forgot again after that. By this time, Ms. Barbara had gotten to know you and our family so well and her story really showed so much about your soul, personality, and loves. She also envisioned you getting stronger and using your body more, because you were so small back then. After your story, whenever we drove around, you would “add on” to the heavenly meadows story and tell me about “other things” that happened while you lived there. Here’s your story:
Age 4:
Once upon a time, not so long ago, there lived a boy in the heavenly meadows. One night during his slumber, he woke up to a strange noise outside. Curious, he got out of bed and looked out the window into the dark night. But he could not see where the sound was coming from. So he went back to sleep. But again, he woke up early in the morning, before all the other children and tip-toed down the stairs and out the door.
He saw the grass going this way and that way and this and that way. He saw leaves scattered everywhere, for they had fallen off their branches. He saw flowers that had fallen off their stems. The sound he had heard was just the wind. He had an idea! He started raking all the leaves on the ground into a big, big, big, giant pile. He ran up a hill, took a deep breath, and ran all the way down splashing into the giant pile of leaves. He repeated the labor of raking and jumped into the leaves over and over again. Finally, he raked the leaves into a pile one last time. He then started to gather all the flowers that had fallen off their stems and carefully placed them onto and around the leaf pile for decorations.
In the short distance, he noticed a bush whose leaves and branches had gotten all tangled from the wind. He carefully began to untangle them when he heard a quiet sound coming from inside the bush. “Hoooooo, hooooo, hooooo.” He stopped, wondered and peered in. Then he heard it again, “hoooooo, hoooooo, hooooo.”[1] He peered deeper through the branches and saw two big eyes. It was a tiny, baby owl! “Were you blown away from your nest by the winds?” asked the boy. The owl nodded “yes” yearning to go back home, but he had not yet grown any wings to fly. So the boy carefully picked up the owl and promised to find the owl’s home.
Carrying the owl in his hands, he began walking and talking to the owl. “Is your home in the forest, where the tall, tall trees are?” The owl nodded “yes”. And so the boy began his journey across the heavenly meadows to the forest. Once they arrived, the boy asked “is the first tree your house?” The owl nodded “no.” Then the boy found another tall tree, and asked the owl “is this your tree?” “No” said the owl. Then the boy found the tallest tree of all in the forest and asked the owl, “is this your tree?” The owl eagerly nodded “yes.” The boy thought to himself, “well that is a very tall tree, how will I take you up to your nest?” He began to pick up some sturdy branches to make a ladder. He found a strong rock to use as a hammer. He hammered and hammered and hammered and hammered the pieces together until the ladder was complete. Then he carefully placed the baby owl inside his shirt, next to his heart, and earnestly began to climb all the way up the tree. When he finally reached the nest, he could see how happy and full of love the mommy and daddy owl were. He carefully took the baby owl out of his shirt and placed him back into his nest.
After a long day of raking, jumping, walking, building and climbing, the boy was tired. He sat with the owl family on the strong branch to rest.
Then he noticed in the distance a yellow golden light. Looking closer he could see blue oceans, and people working hard everywhere in offices, schools, their homes, gardens and hospitals. Then he saw a beautiful woman with so much love in her heart and a tall man, with so much love in his heart. And a little girl, with big eyes and a huge smile. He said “I want to go and live with them!” So he climbed back down the tree and ran across the heavenly meadows to the heavenly angel’s home. He told her that he had seen the Earth and had chosen a family to live with. The angel traveled with the boy to the rainbow bridge. He walked across to the other side marking the day Xander was born.
[1] Xander LOVES owls and he could sense what was coming. He got SO excited and started dancing in his chair and smiling at me and holding my hand. And during the ladder scene, he started moving his hands as if he was climbing the ladder too!
I am forever grateful for these stories and the over-ripe bananas usually trigger the memories every time!