Just wondering if anyone has substituted margarine for the butter in the NFSC recipe and what the results were.

I haven't made the NFSC recipe, but it's fairly similar to mine and I just tried margarine in mine for the first time this week. I've been baking a ton of cookies to decorate for my web site gallery and didn't want to waste so much butter! Anyway, I was pretty happy with the results. I noticed they were softer after they sat for a while. I had more broken cookies than I've experienced before. But they tasted good, and the dough was actually easier to roll out. Might as well try it. Just make sure it's really margarine, and not "spread", which has more water.

I didn't know there was such a thing as "real" butter until I was in my early twenties. In my house, growing up the oldest of 6 kids, groceries were bought by getting the cheapest available. we called any yellow stick of meltable fat "butter". I've tasted real butter and I guess because I grew up on the cheap stuff, I find real butter to taste SO nasty!!

I've never used real butter in any recipe. A recipe that calls for "butter"? Hmmm.... they must mean that yellow stick of meltable fat stuff!

And I use the cheapest margarine in the store. I pay $0.59/lb for it.

Works just fine.

I'm sure that butter lovers can tell the difference, but the way I make them has gotten me this far .... I see no need to change it now!

Check my cookie website .... they all stay on the stick.

Mayo / MIracle Whip ..... it's all the same to me!

It's like saying you want a Coke .... then you tell 'em what KIND of Coke: Dr. Pepper, Sprite, 7-Up, Root Beer.....

I always use margarine in my NFSC and they always taste good and stay on the stick just fine.

Use it all the time with great success! Whenever I use 100% butter in any cookie recipe the spreading is out of control!

I use marg all the time too......
More people like marg better in my cookies than butter

Are you serious. Margaringe can be used in NFSC! I wanted to try, but usually I forget. That would make it so much cheaper. I do prefer real butter usually, but most of my customers don't know the difference.

I always use margarine because I read somewhere that the cookies will remain fresh-tasting for a longer period of time--like 30 days--while cookies made with butter only remain fresh-tasting for a week or so. Has anyone else heard this?

Add me to the growing list that uses margarine in NFSC. I use Imperial margarine exclusively, and it works GREAT! I stock up when I see it on sale,
and compared to butter, it's so much cheaper! I always get rave reviews
on my cookies, so obviously the taste is still there...even without real butter!

ok...what is NFSC and where do I find the recipe????

I also think there has been much progress in the taste of margarine over the years ..... marked improvements in taste.

But seriously, in almost 50 years, every time I see "butter" in a recipe, I use whatever I have in the 'frig .... and it was never "butter".

This really threw my Sysco sales rep when I asked her to price butter for me. She came back with some price that was over $3 a pound. I said, "YOu gotta be kidding! I pay $0.59 at walmart!" She said, "You pay that for BUTTER?"

Then I got it. I said, "Ohhhhhhh! When I said 'butter', you thought I meant BUTTER! No.... I mean the regular stuff!"

OK...I think I got it.....NFSC...No Fail Sugar Cookie???

I use margarine all the time and it works fine. However, I did have a problem when I tried the Blue Bonnet margarine in my NFSC...the dough was really sticky/wet and they weren't keeping their shape. I learned from the people on this site that Blue Bonnet has too much water. So, I went back to Imperial and/or WalMart brand and haven't had a problem since. I just put the BB aside and used it in my icing. HTH. Jodie

Wonder if Parkay would work as well as Imperial?

Duffgc--yes cookies made with margarine stay fresher longer ( about 30 days) cause margarine lasts longer than butter. Cookies made with butter will stay fresh for about 7 days.

Thanks for confirming that for me cakes-r-us

I always use walmart or imperial. I tried the blue bonnet once also, total disaster.

I always use butter, in every recipe, even when it calls for shortening. Even in my buttercream. I make the sugar cookies from the Confetti Cakes cookbook and they always turn out. Never a spreading issue, and they taste fantastic and are nice and soft. I think the secret to these ones is that they are frozen for 15 minutes before they are baked, and man! I get a tonne of compliments on them. I find that once people taste my baking they will pay the extra price that I need to charge to cover the butter.

I have only used blue bonet in my choc chip cookies and Sugar cookies an have never had a problem. So I guess I will try imperial or Wal-mart brant to see if there is a difference.

I would like to "echo" Meriscakes tip about freezing the cut out cookies
before baking...it works GREAT! Absolutely no spreading. I use NFSC
with Imperial, and freeze for about 5-10 minutes before baking. Works
like a charm every time!