I love non-traditional Christmas cookies. Don't get me wrong -- Santa's and sleighs are fun, but I prefer making sets that are a little less predictable.

When it’s time to plan my holiday baking, I tend to avoid using red and green (probably because I’ve just done too many cookies with that color scheme over the years). Sometimes coming up with inspiration is easier said than done, but I’ve had a lot of luck looking at decorations and ornaments for ideas.

My favorite place to “research” is Target, because I love their themed trees…and I’m there at least once or twice a week, so you know…convenience. This year they have a “fable”-inspired tree, filled with beautiful blush tones and rose gold accents. I know the rose gold trend has been going on for well over a year, but there’s something about the soft, pink tone that is so subtle and pretty – feminine, yet modern. I was especially struck by these ornament packages:

I decided to combine the blush tone color scheme with some of my favorite, very minimalistic cookie cutters and add rose gold accents. I also tried Sweetopia’s new Almond Hazelnut Sugar Cookie recipe, which is delicious. I had a hard time finding hazelnut flour in my local grocery stores, so I did have to order it (see notes below), but it was worth it. The flavor is great and I really like the additional flecks of hazelnut in the cookies.

The hazelnut flour adds these nice flecks of color and texture to the cookies

I wish you could see the shine of the rose gold luster dust – it was the first time I (finally) heeded other cookie decorators’ recommendations and used Everclear. I was dumb to not try it earlier; it really does dry almost immediately and leaves the prettiest, shiniest surface without pitting or otherwise impacting your royal icing.

I applied the rose gold luster dust using a fanned paintbrush to get a nice, brushed effect

Another view of the rose gold luster dust:

Pictures don't capture just how shiny and glossy the rose gold is in person...

I used several Americolor gels to create the blush tones, including blush, soft pink, deep pink, and burgundy. It's hard to see all four colors in the larger group shots, so I've added close-ups of each color below (from lightest to darkest):

I love these cookies so much I almost don't want to give them away, but 'tis the season, right? Instead of dwelling, I'm already wracking my brain trying to come up with another excuse to use this color scheme...Valentine's Day, perhaps?

Other notes:

These were made using Sweetopia’s ALMOND HAZELNUT SUGAR COOKIE recipe and my ROYAL ICING recipes.
I had a hard time finding hazelnut flour in my local grocery stores, so I ordered Bob's Red Mill Hazelnut Flour/Meal from Amazon.
Gnome and little tree cookie cutters are from HOW SWEET IS THAT.
I applied Global Sugar Arts rose gold luster dust using Everclear and fan (on the large trees) and flat (on the reindeer antlers) paintbrushes.
This post is not sponsored by any of the suppliers listed above.