COOKIES: Really good and easy to bake

If you're looking for a terrific autumn cookie, here's my blue ribbon-winning recipe for ginger cookies. The bones of the recipe come from "Philadelphia" magazine probably 15 years ago. I adapted it when my neighbor was having oral surgery and I wanted to make him a cookie with a softer texture.
People have told me that this is not only the best cookie they've ever had, but the best food of any sort they've ever ingested in their entire lives.
Let me know how it turns out for you. I use standard store brands for the ingredients unless noted.

1. In a small bowl mix 2 C flour, 2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 2.5 tsp ground ginger (McCormick's), 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground cloves.

2. Melt 1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter in microwave. In a large bowl, add the butter to 1-1/8 C white sugar. Add 1 standard-size egg (local of course!), 1/4 C molasses (Brer Rabbit mild flavor), 3/4 tsp vanilla extract.

3. Beat with electric mixer and add the dry ingredients. Make sure all flour is incorporated (otherwise you will have weird markings on cookies).

4. Let the batter stand to thicken for a few minutes.

5. Form batter into balls (about 1 T each) and drop onto cookie sheets covered with parchment paper (this is key to the cookies' appearance). They spread, so space them widely! 

6. Bake on top rack (in my quirky oven, at least) at 350 degrees. The timing is critical. If you want them to be chewy, bake for 9-10 minutes. For crunchier, bake for 12 minutes.

7. No special cooling protocol.