Whisk dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, and salt.
Cream butter + sugar. Beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the molasses, egg, and vanilla and mix again.
Combine. Add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until a thick dough forms.
Chill. Wrap the dough and chill for at least 1 hour. Don’t skip this! It helps the cookies keep their shape.
Roll + cut. Roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into gingerbread men, stars, trees, or whatever shapes make your heart happy.
Bake. Bake at 350°F for 8–10 minutes. For softer cookies, pull them around 8 minutes. For sturdier Christmas gingerbread cookies (like for building), bake the full 10.
Decorate. When fully cooled, whisk together the icing ingredients and pipe fun details on top.
