As you saw by even the links you provided, the answer is not an easy one.

Basically, for years margarine was promoted as “heart healthy” and better for you than butter. As margarine was made from unsaturated vegetable oils, it was assumed that it was better – this assumption turned out wrong. Studies (the well-know Nurses Health Study) showed that margarine was worse than butter (source: Harvard School of Public Health, http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fats-full-story/)

This was mostly due to the fact that margarines contained trans fats. We now know that trans are quite harmful (good info on trans fats from Harvard School of Public Health http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/nutrition-news/transfats/index.html)

Butter contains saturated fats, but trans fats are known to be worse for you.

Today many margarines have since omitted the trans fats.

However, the margarine products out there put out so many “claims” that are not always true (labeling laws in the US are very lax and too long to get into here. Basically, don’t always believe these “claims”, they’re mostly used a marketing ploys — for more info you can read Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food”, or Marion Nestle’s “What to Eat” and “Food Politics”).

The articles you linked to talked about this issue and confusion over margarine today.

In my personal view, I’d rather eat something that’s been eaten for a very long time, than something that was first created in a laboratory or factory. But that’s just me.
And I find when people use butter (as it tastes much better, which you say you do) they use less than if they were using margarine.

I have been unable to find any research that suggests butter is healthier than margarine. Here are some of the more credible sources from my research:

Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/margarine/HB00097

Cleveland Clinic: http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/prevention/askdietician/margarine.aspx

Natl’l Library of Medicine/Nat’l Institute of Health: http://wwwils.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002114.htm

NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/science/16real.html?fa=y

I would be very interested in links to sources that point to butter as being healthier because I like it better than margarine.

Actually, butter is all natural and much better for you than margarine and other “substitutes.” Over the last few years doctors & scientists have found that margarine is actually WORSE for you than butter.

Sugar — is fine in moderation.

As far as Splenda — though they market it as “made from real sugar” those claims are flawed, and in 2007,a European court said that the marketing of the sweetener Splenda is “misleading to consumers, and ordered that its advertising slogans be ceased.”

Splenda is not natural.

And artificial sweeteners in general (like those with saccharin) can actually cause you to gain weight. Studies have shown that the data clearly indicates that “consuming a food sweetened with no-calorie saccharin can lead to greater body-weight gain and adiposity than would consuming the same food sweetened with a higher-calorie sugar.”

Basically, the taste buds taste sweet, but there’s almost no calories that come with it, which the body expects. So there’s a change in your brain chemistry. The sweet tastes normally signal that the body is going to receive a lot of calories, and the digestive system prepares to react. As a result of the wrong interpretation, people most often over-consume calories.

Bacon fat — the recipe states you can use butter.

Ice cream — the recipe doesn’t say to buy the overloaded ice cream with caramel, nuts, marshmallows, chopped up peanut butter cups, etc. A scoop of nice, REAL vanilla ice cream is not going to cause you to gain weight or not lose weight.

It’s people who instead consume low-fat, ‘fake’ ice cream with fake ingredients that later overcompensate by bingeing on foods as their taste buds are not satisfied.

We need to stop eating fake foods and start eating REAL, WHOLESOME foods.

It’s this fear of real foods that is part of the obesity problem in this country. Start eating real foods and your will see your body will react to the foods better and your hunger & satisfaction will start to adjust to normal.

At the very least, I would substitute Splenda for the sugar.

@Steve – I understand your hesitation using bacon fat, so yes, use the butter. And using butter is FINE. Much better than margarine or other ‘fake’ stuff.

@Jan, @Stacey @ Donna – your welcome!

@Sally – let me know how you like it.

@Darya – you’re SO right. By starting with good ingredients it is tough to mess up. Just unfortunate that many people are “afraid” of things like butter. But you are so right on!! Good ingredients = good meal = good health = good mind.

Really??

Those are my favorite kind of recipes!!! I find if you start with good ingredients it is hard to mess up too bad