Can I use margarine in place of the butter in the NFSC recipe (I would, of course, omit the salt)? I forgot to p/u butter today & would like to bake the cookies tonight when is cool 
There is a higher water content in margarine then butter so you may find these are going to spread more - perhaps not holding their shape. I would refridgerate before cutting and again before baking to help offset it. I'm sure they'll still taste great.
For my entire life, anytime a recipe said "butter", I used margarine. I must have been the only poor kid in America, because my mom would NEVER spend $3 for "butter" when that twenty-nine cent box of yellow sticks of fat would work "just fine!" I didn't know there was such a thing as "real" butter until I was in my late teens or early 20's.
I always use Imperial marg in my NFSC! They turn out perfect everytime !
I've done it tons of time (thanks to IndyDebi for the enlightment) Just as you mentioned, you must omit the salt since margarine already contains a fair amount. I roll mine out, cut them then freeze them for a bout 20 minutes and they don't lose their shape at all! I use Blue Bonnet for like 49 cent a pound. Go For It!!
Well cripes, I am going to have to try it. Butter is $2 per pound and imperial is like .50. If they taste and act the same, I am definitely switching.
I was also raised on margarine for all baking or cookies and such. Wasn't until I started baking as an adult that I discovered real butter. Sometimes it's worth it and sometimes it's not. NFSC have icing or MMF on top so you might not be able to tell the lack of butter flavor.
CakeDiva73 Give it a try ! You might love it ! Everyone loves my cookies ! I never have them spread either! Let us know if you give it a try !
oh ... on the salt thing, I ALWAYS omit the salt in any dessert recipe. I never, ever, ever add salt to anything that is remotely described as a dessert.
Before I ever DREAMED of baking for a living, it just didn't make any sense that a lousy 1/8 of a tsp would make a difference so being basically a lazy person, I left it out.
As I've aged, I look at it as "I don't use a salt shaker when I'm eating a fudge brownie, so why would I use a salt shaker when I'm mixing up a fudge brownie?"
(Hey... it may not be logical but it works for me! 
)
Be sure you use real margarine--glory that sentence is loaded with irony 
But I mean there are a jillion vegetable spreads and when they first started coming out I didn't realize it wasn't 'real' margarine and they didn't bake well for me. I too did not use butter for my early baking days.
Maybe that's what CakeDiva meant that some of the spreads are wonky. Because butter has a lot of water in it. I guess some of those spreads have even more or something
Another related little dealie here is that "they" say using imitation vanila in cookies was as good as real vanilla by people at Cooks' Illustrated magazine I think it was. I just don't have the nerve to try it. But there is that tidbit for the cookie jar.
I do love the taste the butter gives the cookies.
They say blue Bonnet, Imperial, and Fleischmans work the best. I prefer Imperial. They have less water than the others and the soft whipped margarines have a lot of water whipped in to them. Imperial does work fine for NFSC.
I have imperial...so it looks like tonight's batch of NFSC will be made w/ it. Thanks for the help 
'm glad i found this thread. I will try the imperial margarine as I practice making animal cookies for my twins bd party in July.
Let's see if I can taste the difference.
I've always used Blue Bonnet in my baking, and never had the first complaint or noticed a difference. I've also never omitted anything else from the recipe. Didn't know I needed to! LOL Can you tell I was raised by someone who cooks straight from a can most of the time? (but I'd walk a hundred miles, uphill, barefoot, in the snow, to get one of her made-from-scratch pies)
I used to use BB in my icing, as well, but noticed recently that for some reason, it seems to be breaking down after an hour or two in the decorating bag. NOT good. And it never did that before. I have to wonder if they've changed something in their formula. But I've switched to butter for the icing, and have noticed a big difference.
I have subjected friends and family to a taste test with the NFSC, though, and none of them could tell the slightest bit of difference between butter and margarine. Since margarine is so much cheaper, I stick with it for that and my cakes, but for icing, butter will be it for me from now on. 
and none of them could tell the slightest bit of difference between butter and margarine.
Hubby once brought up that the margarine he and I ate as a kid is DRASTICALLY different from the margarines of today. Technology and industry improvements have moved margarine much closer to a "buttery" taste that it was 30 or 40 years ago. Many times, our "memory" of what something tastes like will override the reality of what it really tastes like.
On the funny side, he remembers eating fried Spam as a kid and loved it! So as an adult, he bought a can one day and was excited about re-creating that taste memory. Unfortunately, Spam hasn't made the same progress as the margarine makers!!
Does anyone use the Cake Doctor recipes? Have you substituted margarine for butter in those? I made butter cookies last Christmas and ran out of butter 1/2 way through. My sister insisted Country Crock (I think it was) would work the same. I thought they tasted awful so I've never tried anything with margarine again. I would love to go cheaper. Maybe I'll get brave and try something with the BB or Imperial.
Unfortunately, Spam hasn't made the same progress as the margarine makers!!
ROFLMAO You know what? I did the same thing several weeks ago. My favorite meal as a teen was macaroni and cheese and fried spam (maybe because that's mostly what I could cook at the time). I tried it again not so long ago, and ICK! LOLOL
I never use the stuff in tubs. I don't know the technical stuff behind it all, but the tub stuff seems to be whipped, much softer, etc, and just doesn't do well at all in baking, IMHO. Your mileage may vary. I also don't use the walmart brand of margarine, unless everyone around here is out of Blue Bonnet. I will swear by BB for baking, though.
I would love to know the scientific difference on the tub vs. stick margarines, though, if anyone knows what that is... I'm a geek like that...
I have also always used Imperial for my NFSC as well. I always pick some up when I'm up at Walmart. I went into SHOCK this week 
when I went to the dairy case in Walmart and found they had replaced the Imperial with another brand of margarine!! OH NO..what to do now! I guess I'll be paying a few cents more for it at the grocery store. It's still way cheaper than butter, and the cookies taste great with it!
I have also always used Imperial for my NFSC as well. I always pick some up when I'm up at Walmart. I went into SHOCK this week
when I went to the dairy case in Walmart and found they had replaced the Imperial with another brand of margarine!! OH NO..what to do now! I guess I'll be paying a few cents more for it at the grocery store. It's still way cheaper than butter, and the cookies taste great with it!
If you have an Aldi's nearby, I believe they carry it. Not positive, but worth a shot!
What is NFSC? Its No Fail Sugar Cookies ! There should be a recipe in the recipe sections!
Theres the link ! Its for cutout type cookies! Its yummy !
I just finished eating a NFSC made with imperial... and I couldn't tell the difference... 
So .. I'm going to use if from now on...and save a few bucks.
I omitted the 1 tsp of salt.
I think I should try another one... just to make sure LOL
iramirez94.. It might take at least 1/2 doz !!
Fiddlesticks and doni you are too FUNNY!!
FYI I ate a palm tree, a number 4 and for dessert I had an elephant... VERDICT is still the same... they are yummy with imperial margarine!
No I will decorate the cookies and try freezing them. I read here on CC that I can decorate with RI and freeze them. I will need them for my twins jungle party on July 12th.
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