In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda and salt & set aside.
3 cups all purpose flour, spooned and leveled, 1 Tbsp. ground ginger, 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ground cloves, 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom, 3/4 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or hand mixer, cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl when needed.
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed, 10 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
Mix in the egg yolk (not with the egg white, just yolk) and vanilla extract.
1 large egg yolk, room temperature, 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Then mix in the molasses and milk.
1/2 cup molasses, 2 Tbsp. milk
With mixer set on low speed slowly and gradually add in the dry ingredients.
Mix until combined.
Form the dough into a disk on a lightly floured work surface and divide the dough into four equal portions.
At this point, you need to chill the dough and you have 2 options. The first option is a longer chill time, second option is quicker: 1. Form each portion into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 4 hours or overnight. Once dough is chilled you can roll it out on a floured surface (flour the rolling pin lightly too) and cut into shapes; continue baking as directed below. OR option 2. Roll out each portion of dough on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper (about 1/2-inch thickness) and transfer the parchment paper and dough to a baking sheet. Place in the freezer for about 15 minutes or until firm. Then continue baking as directed below.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a few sheet pans with parchment paper.
Cut into shapes using a gingerbread man cookie cutter (or whatever shape you’d prefer: stars, stockings, etc. (Pro tip: cut with a floured gingerbread man cookie cutter).
Transfer to prepared cookie sheets, spacing cookies about 1-inch apart, and bake in preheated oven 9-11 minutes or until slightly set.
Remove cookies oven and cool on baking sheet 2 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Re-form the dough scraps into a ball, roll it out and repeat. I only recommend to re-form the dough scraps only twice (three times maximum) because overworked dough might have too much extra flour added to it, which would make the cookies drier, denser, and harder.
If decorating with icing, combine the icing ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. Decorate using a piping bag using a #2 decorating tip. Enjoy!
2 cups powdered sugar, 2 Tbsp. milk, 2 tsp. vanilla extract