Hey there. A friend asked me to make cookies for her mother's birthday. She found a photo of cookies that she'd like me to try and emulate. I enjoy making decorated sugar cookies, but I'm no pro. Any idea how I'd get that kind of sparkle on the numbers? I know that many people use luster dust mixed with alcohol or lemon extract, but I've never used it. Would it give that much of a sparkle? Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated.

AThis looks like "edible glitter" aka disco dust so not actually edible. You can get a similar look but not as sparkly with other actually edible products.

I was just reading a forum post on here about disco dust and many said that it is plastic particles, so I definitely don't want to use that. Luster dust won't be as shiny? I will have to compromise.

ALustre dust will give a flatter metallic finish. The sparkly effect you see in the picture is a result of the multi-faceted appearance of the particles in the disco dust. There are edible glitters available but they are not quite as sparkly.

You can perk up the shine on a painted fondant item by painting corn syrup on it, or a mix of corn syrup & vodka.  It goes on like a clear coat of glaze.