Instructions

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, add brown sugar and unsalted butter and combine on medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until fully creamed together. Add the egg, molasses, and vanilla extract. In a large mixing bowl, add all-purpose flour, ground ginger, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, kosher salt, and ground nutmeg. Form the cookie dough into a ball and wrap it in plastic or seal it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight.
2. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Farenheight. Prepare 2 (or more) rimmed baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. On a lightly floured pastry mat or another surface, cut the dough in half with a dough scraper. Work with one half at a time. Place the other piece of dough in an airtight container while you work with the first piece. Roll the dough out as thin as ⅛ inch or as thick as ¼ inch. The thickness of the cookie recipe will affect the yield of the cookies you make. I find the thickness somewhere in between the 2 measurements easier to work with. Use cookie cutters (2 ½ inch size) to cut out the cookies and place them on the prepared baking sheets (not greased), spaced about 1 inch apart. Repeat with the other piece of cookie dough.
3. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are firm. Bake them longer to make them crisper or shorter for more soft and chewy cookies. Cook the cookies in batches to ensure even baking. When they are done, let them cool on the baking rack for 5 minutes, then transfer them to wire cooling racks to cool completely before decorating with Royal Icing or enjoy them plain.