Of course not.

But it all comes down to taste buds. We know people who swear there's no taste difference between butter and margarine. We know people who prefer margarine. We know people who need to sit down and fan themselves when they were expecting butter and nibbled a cookie made with margarine (yes, they are in our Drama Queen category).

Have you always served your family butter cookies? Then they will probably notice a difference. Can you use half butter and half margarine? Some people will notice a difference. Have you made a sample batch of cookies with margarine? Were you happy with the results?

We looked at some data from research firm A.C. Nielsen that shows butter prices in Canada have been more than twice those of margarine for at least the last ten years. So this is not a new problem. But we also absolutely understand the need to economize. You'll have to decide whether butter is the place to draw the line or whether you should just make fewer cookies this year.