Cooking | Black-Bottom Cookie Bars

I know I am a bit late on the Pinterest bandwagon but the main reason why I finally took the plundge and created an account is the neverending collection of recipes you can find on here. I have created a board for vegetarian recipes and another for desserts, and it is really fun to experiment with the countless recipes! I can never resist a recipe mentionning "cookie" or "cookie dough", and these beauties are heavenly soft, chewy and gooey!

You will need:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, melted (plus more for baking dish)
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used a Valentine's Day chocolate heart instead)

Preheat oven to 350° and lightly butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Whisk together butter and both sugars in a large bowl. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. 

Gradually add flour and salt, mixing just until moistened.

Divide batter in half, and transfer one half to a separate bowl. Stir in cocoa powder and chocolate chips until combined.

Place chocolate batter in baking pan, spread evenly and smooth top. Spread plain batter on top of chocolate batter and also smooth top.

Bake 25-30 minutes, or until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not overbake!

Yummmmmm!

Recipe adapted from Bake or Break

Crest & Oral-B Pro-Health Challenge

In April, I was asked to take part in a fun challenge, which involved using Crest Pro-Health and Oral-B products for a month, in an attempt to help prevent plaque. I was sent Oral-B Professional Care Deep Sweep + Smart Guide Triaction 5000 Rechargeable Toothbrush, Crest Pro-Health Clinical Plaque Control Toothpaste, Oral-B Glide Pro-Health Clinical Protection Floss, and Crest Pro-Health Invigorating Clean Multi-Protection Mouthwash. These products are conceived to protect teeth and gums against problems such as cavities, gingivitis, sensitivity, tartar, plaque, stains and bad breath.

Before trying out these new products, I was using my all time favorite electric toothbrush, Oral-B ProfessionalCare SmartSeries 5000, and I was also trialing Kiss My Face Spearmint Breath Blast Mouthwash, which I will probably review soon. I am a bit shy to admit that I was never a regular flosser though - I am so lazy - but thanks to this challenge though, I was able to make this habit stick!

Before starting to use the new Crest and Oral-B products, I had to go to my dentist for a check up, and I am happy to report that I don't have any major problems, appart from my wisdom teeth that I will need to have pulled out soon - I am so scared!

I then proceeded to use all of the Crest and Oral-B Pro-Health products at least twice a day for four weeks, and I quite enjoyed my experience. Oral-B Triaction 5000 Rechargeable Toothbrush is just as nice as my old one, with its unique brush head design with 3 cleaning zones and its 5 customized modes - I use the whitening mode every day and I do notice a big improvement on my naturally yellow teeth! I like that Crest Clinical Plaque Control Toothpaste not only reduces plaque but also helps keep it from coming back, while also whitening teeth and freshening breath. Although I was pleased with the Invigorating Mint flavour, I honestly can't say Crest Multi-Protection Mouthwash is the most freshening and long-lasting mouthwash I have tried - I have yet to find a mouthwash that beats Scope Outlast on this point!

I am happy to report that when I returned to see my dentist after a month, she had absolutely nothing negative to say about my teeth - she still insisted that I get my wisdom teeth pulled out though - argh!

Disclaimer: One or more products were sent to me for consideration to review. I am not affiliated with this company and the fact that the products were free absolutely does not influence my opinion.