Butter

The commodity often referred to as "butter" is sometimes margarine, soft margarine, and lately they have come out with a product that contains butter with added canola oil.

For baking, the "soft" or spreadable varieties of either butter or margarine will not work, since they contain liquid oils and/or water. Margarine in stick form, and real butter with nothing added works best. Shortening in a can, such as Crisco, also works well for cookies, cakes and pastries. HINT: Store brand or even name brand margarine is often cheaper than vegetable shortening, and works well in recipes calling for shortening. Just remember to reduce or leave out the salt.

I haven't tried the butter with canola, since the savings when compared to regular stick margarine isn't significant.