Building on the latest cake trend to sweep Instagram, these fault line cookies are every bit as sweet as they are jaw-dropping gorgeous. Wow your friends and please your taste buds with this deliciously elegant treat!
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Sprinkle Pop and originally appeared on the Sprinkle Pop blog.
Fault line cakes... So hot right now. <-- If you're not saying this in Mugatu's voice, you're not saying it right. And if you don't know who that is, I'm not sure we can be friends anymore... But why should cakes have all the fun? Why not some sweet little cookie fault line goodness? And in case I didn't have you at "cookie," believe it or not, these cookies are infinitely easier than a cake. Sure, they'll take a hot second to dry, but the actual amount of time you'll spend working on these... Much less. Easy, sweet, jaw-dropping gorgeous. Need I say more?
How to make fault line cookies
First, make half a batch of my favorite sugar cookie recipe.
Be sure to check out that post for all my best tips and tricks for making sugar cookies.
Second, whip up half a batch of royal icing.
You'll want 20 second consistency icing for this project. Don't know what that means? Check out my ultimate guide to royal icing.
Third, add the sprinkles.
Using a small, food-only brush, brush royal icing onto your cookie where you want the sprinkles to be. Be generous with the amount of icing you use (this will help the sprinkles stay in place). Pour your sprinkles onto a small plate. Press the cookie royal-icing-side-down into the sprinkles. Use your fingers to press sprinkles into any bare spots. Turn the cookie upside down and gently shake off any loose sprinkles. Repeat with all the cookies.
Fourth, fully ice your cookies with royal icing.
Spoon your royal icing into a piping bag, clip the tip to create a small opening and pipe the royal icing onto your cookies around the area with sprinkles. Allow the royal icing to harden completely before proceeding (about 6-8 hours).
Finally, decorate!
Combine your gold powered food coloring with a little vodka and mix. Using a small, food-only paint brush, paint the royal icing around the sprinkles gold. Thin the gold food coloring until thin, pick some up with your paint brush, and gently tap over the cookies to create a mottled effect. Allow to dry completely before packaging.
Tips for making fault line cookies
- To prevent butter bleed, cool your cookies on a cooling rack rather than the pan and make sure they’re completely cool before working with them (I like to leave them out over night so they cool and dry as much as possible).
- If your sprinkle mix has large sprinkles, remove them before dipping your cookies into the sprinkles. Large sprinkles can offset your cookies making it difficult to get a good coating of sprinkles. Large sprinkles are better added by hand with a little extra icing.
- For easy loading, place the piping bag into a tall glass and pull the top down around the sides of the glass. This will hold the bag in place while you pour.
- Use a toothpick or a quilling tool to work the icing into place. A gentle tap or two will help the icing settle.
- If you end up with any little air bubbles, you can pop those with your toothpick or quilling tool.
- Gold powdered food coloring: There are a lot of gold powdered food coloring products on the market, but the best one, in my opinion, is super gold by Truly Mad Plastics.
- Storage: These cookies can be stored in a cool, dry, airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
Did you make this recipe? I’d love to hear how it went in the comments below. Better still, snap a photo and tag it on Instagram with #thesimplesweetlife. I love seeing your creations!
PrintRecipe
Fault Line Cookies
Piggy-backing of the hot cake trend, these fault line cookies are every bit as sweet and jaw-droppingly gorgeous. Wow your friends and please your taste buds with this deliciously elegant treat!
- Prep Time: 8 hours
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 8 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 12
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For the sugar cookies:
- 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
For the royal icing:
- 2 tbsp meringue powder or powdered egg whites
- ¼ cup lukewarm water
- ½ lb powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For decorating the cookies:
- Gold powdered food coloring
- Piña Colada Sprinkle Mix
Instructions
- To make the sugar cookies: Beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth.
- Add the sugar and continue beating until thoroughly combined. Add the egg and vanilla extract and repeat.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the flour one cup at a time, mixing between each new addition.
- The dough should be firm, easily peels away from the bowl and no longer sticky.
- Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Once the dough is chilled, knead it on a lightly floured surface until malleable.
- Roll the dough out to ¼″ thick. Cut out with desired shapes.
- Bake the dough at 350F for 6-10 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies.
- The cookies are done when they’re no longer shiny on top.
- To make the royal icing: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the meringue powder/powdered egg whites and lukewarm water. In this context, “lukewarm” means just slightly warm to the touch.
- Use a whip attachment to whip the mixture on high until frothy. Scrap down the sides as you go to make sure there’s no residual powder.
- Sift the powdered sugar and add it to bowl. Continue whipping the icing, this time on medium speed.
- Once the powdered sugar is incorporated, add the vanilla extract. Stop the machine every 2-3 minutes to spray and scrape down the sides.
- Whip the royal icing until you’ve reached a 20 second consistency.
- To decorate the cookies: Using a small, food-only brush, brush royal icing onto your cookie where you want the sprinkles to be.
- Be generous with the amount of icing you use (this will help the sprinkles stay in place).
- Pour your sprinkles onto a small plate. Press the cookie royal-icing-side-down into the sprinkles.
- Use your fingers to press sprinkles into any bare spots. Turn the cookie upside down and shake off any loose sprinkles. Repeat with all the cookies.
- Ice your cookies with royal icing. Spoon your royal icing into a piping bag, clip the tip to create a small opening and pipe the royal icing onto your cookies around the area with sprinkles.
- Allow the royal icing to harden completely before proceeding (about 6-8 hours).
- Combine your gold powered food coloring with a little vodka and mix. Using a small, food-only paint brush, paint the royal icing around the sprinkles gold.
- Thin the gold food coloring until thin, pick some up with your paint brush, and tap over the cookies to create a mottled effect. Allow to dry completely before packaging.
Notes
- To prevent butter bleed, cool your cookies on a cooling rack rather than the pan and make sure they’re completely cool before working with them (I like to leave them out over night so they cool and dry as much as possible).
- If your sprinkle mix has large sprinkles, remove them before dipping your cookies into the sprinkles. Large sprinkles can offset your cookies making it difficult to get a good coating of sprinkles. Large sprinkles are better added by hand with a little extra icing.
- For easy loading, place the piping bag into a tall glass and pull the top down around the sides of the glass. This will hold the bag in place while you pour.
- Use a toothpick or a quilling tool to work the icing into place. A gentle tap or two will help the icing settle.
- If you end up with any little air bubbles, you can pop those with your toothpick or quilling tool.
- Gold powdered food coloring: There are a lot of gold powdered food coloring products on the market, but the best one, in my opinion, is the super gold by Truly Mad Plastics.
- Storage: These cookies can be stored in a cool, dry, airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
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