In a mixing bowl, beat butter until smooth, but not fluffy. The goal is just to make it smooth so there are no lumps. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and salt and mix until combined and lightened slightly. (The goal is not to cream to light and fluffy as if we’re making a cake.)

Add the vanilla, molasses, and egg and mix until fully combined. (The mixture may look broken. It’s fine.)

Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves to the wet mixture. Mix until fully combined and no floury bits remain. Be careful not to over mix.

Cover the dough and refrigerate for two hours or overnight.

Once dough has been chilled, either roll out to 1/4” between lightly floured parchment or scoop into balls using a #24 sized cookie scoop. If you’re using round metal cookie stamps, you can go either way. If you’re using plunger style cookie cutters, then you’ll need to roll the dough.

Preheat your oven to 350 F while preparing the cookies.

Prepare your stamps by rubbing a small piece of dough all over the surface. Dip the stamp in flour or granulated sugar before pressing into the dough. When scooping into balls, I like to roll the ball in granulated sugar and dip the stamp in granulated sugar. For plunger cutters, I dipped in flour before stamping the rolled dough.

Stamping scooped dough with a metal cutter requires one extra step- cutting the shape out with a round cookie cutter for a clean edge.

Once your shapes are stamped and cut, transfer them to a parchment lined baking sheet. Refrigerate them for 10 minutes before baking to help them keep their shape.

Bake the cookies for about 10-12 minutes, or until the tops are not shiny and they are not squishy when you press against the side. You don’t want to over bake them, or they will be on the dry side.

Once cookies are baked, remove from oven and leave to cool on the cookie sheet for at least five minutes to give them a chance to set. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

*While the cookies are baking, prepare the glaze icing.*

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth.

Using a pastry brush, paint the cookies with a light layer of icing. If you don’t have a pastry brush, dip the cookies and scrape off the excess. Allow to dry before moving the cookies. (Dry time is short, only about 20 minutes. Then they are stackable. This makes them great for cookie boxes!)