Sugar- and Spice-dusted Ginger Chew Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 0.5 teaspoon pepper black freshly ground
• 1 cup brown sugar packed
• 1 cup butter at room temperature
• 1.5 teaspoons cinnamon divided
• 1 large eggs 
• 3.5 cups flour 
• 0.3 cup granulated sugar 
• 0.5 teaspoon ground cloves 
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger 
• 0.5 teaspoon nutmeg 
• 0.5 teaspoon salt 
• 0.5 cup blackstrap molasses 

Equipment

• bowl
• baking sheet
• oven
• blender
• plastic wrap

Directions

1. Beat butter and brown sugar together in a bowl with a mixer on medium speed.
2. Mix in molasses, then egg, until blended, scraping bowl as needed.
3. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, 1 tsp. cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and pepper; add to butter mixture on low speed, mixing until combined.
4. Divide dough in half, shape each into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill until firm, about 3 hours. Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine remaining 1/2 tsp. cinnamon with granulated sugar; set aside.
5. Preheat oven to 35
6. Pull off about 1 tbsp. of dough from disk, roll into a ball, and drop into cinnamon sugar bowl. Working in batches of 3 or 4, coat dough balls in sugar and arrange about 1 in. apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.
7. Bake cookies until dry-looking and just starting to brown on edges, about 8 minutes. Set pans on racks and let cookies cool on pans.
8. Make ahead: Chill dough (step
9. up to 1 week. Store baked cookies airtight up to 3 days.