Donna from California sent me a link to a fun website, www.fancyflours.com, where she had found Chinese Mahjong Tiles Wafer Paper that look just like this:

The description was tempting: Let the game begin! Mahjong tiles are of Chinese origin and used to play many games, most notably Mahjong and Mahjong solitaire. Traditionally, Mahjong tiles were made of bone, but now they can be made from cookies! Our special set of 32 edible wafer paper tiles includes circle, bamboo, character, dragon and flower tiles. Each tile is 1.5″ X 2″. This is a wonderful treat for your Mahjong club.

I thought these would be so much to serve the next time the OMs play chez moi so I sent away for them. The delivery was swift and they arrived in perfect condition as they were beautifully packed. Here’s the only problem – I didn’t read the instructions before ordering them and didn’t realize that they are quite labor-intensive! First you have to make shortbread, gingerbread, or sugar cookies and they need to be the same shape (and close to the same size) as the wafer papers. Next, you must make Royal Icing (or fondant) and outline and then flood the cookies with the icing and let them dry overnight. None of this is a big deal – I have done all this before – it just takes a lot of time.

Then, as the instructions say, “Using craft scissors, carefully cut out your wafer paper images to fit the size of your iced cookie. Trim the edges for a clean, finished look. We recommend using light corn syrup as ‘glue’  for wafer paper because it dries cleanly. You can also use clear piping gel. Using a small craft paint brush, coat the entire back of the wafer paper image with corn syrup. Make sure to cover the edges well. *Be careful not to get corn syrup on the image side because corn syrup splotches will show up.

Gently paste the wafer paper image on the dry cookie. Wiggle it into place so it aligns perfectly on the cookie. Press down the edges well, repeating the process a few times until all of the edges stay ‘glued’ down.

Place a paper towel over the surface of the cookies and gently smooth the wafer paper one final time. Turn the cookie over on a piece of wax paper and let set for about 10 minutes. Turn cookie back over and allow to dry completely. 

Once the cookie is dry, you can pipe decorative borders, sprinkle with glitter or add other embellishments.”

Well, I guess I am not going to make these right away but I will make them eventually because they really are cute. However, if any of you are really adventurous and end up making them before I do, please send me photos and I will post them. BTW, the people at Fancy Flours are very pleasant to deal with, and the product is really nice, so I do recommend this company and the Mahjong Tile Wafer Papers. Just be aware – as I was not! – that making these cookies is a process.