In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients—flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or using a hand mixer), beat butter, brown sugar and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add molasses, egg, vanilla and fresh ginger. Beat until well combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
Add flour mixture and mix just until combined.
Cover the bowl and chill the cookie dough for at least 1 hour.
When dough is almost done chilling, preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon and ginger for the spiced sugar coating.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and use a medium cookie scoop to scoop dough into balls. Roll each ball in spiced sugar and place on prepared baking sheet.
Bake cookies at 350 F for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are set and center is soft. Let them cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.Freeze dough for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator before baking. Baked cookies may also be frozen for up to 3 months. Cool completely, then wrap stacks of 3 to 5 cookies in plastic wrap and store in a freezer bag.