To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use large mixing bowl and hand mixer; or simply whisk together in a large bowl), combine the egg, brown sugar, coconut oil, molasses, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-mixed, smooth, and glossy about 4 minutes.

Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, optional salt, and beat on medium-high speed until combined and smooth, about 1 minute.

Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, baking soda, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute.

Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping two tablespoon mounds (I made 17). Place mounds on a large plate, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Dough will be very soft, mushy, limp, and is not suitable for baking; it must be chilled so the coconut oil re-solidfies. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.

Preheat oven to 350F, line baking sheets with Silpats, or spray with cooking spray; set aside.

Cinnamon-Sugar Coating: Add granulated sugar and cinnamon to a small bowl and stir to combine.

Roll each ball of dough through the coating, liberally coating all sides. After all cookies have been coated, I like to go back and double-dip each mound, to get an extra-thick coating.

Place coated mounds on baking sheets, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet).

Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set, even if undercooked and soft center. Do not bake longer than 9 minutes for soft cookies because they firm up as they cool; bake for 9-10 minutes if you like firmer cookies (The cookies shown in the photos were baked with dough that had been chilled overnight, allowed to come to room temp for 10 minutes while rolling them through the coating mixture, and were baked for 8 ½ minutes).

Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for about 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.