In a medium bowl, whisk together your flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. This ensures all those lovely spices are perfectly distributed.

In a larger bowl, grab your softened butter and brown sugar. Beat them together until they’re nice and fluffy. A stand mixer makes this a breeze, but a hand mixer or even some good old-fashioned arm power works too!

Now, beat in your egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract until everything is happily combined.

Pour in that wonderful molasses and give it a good stir. The dough will start to get that rich, dark color.

Gradually add your dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until it’s just combined. Overmixing can make your cookies tough, so stop as soon as you don’t see any more dry flour.

Cover the bowl and pop the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. This firming up makes rolling into balls much easier.

Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.

Take about 1 tablespoon of dough and roll it into a 1-inch ball.

Roll each dough ball in your turbinado or granulated sugar.

Place your sugar-coated balls onto the prepared baking sheets, making sure they have about 2 inches of space between them. They’ll spread a bit as they bake.

Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the edges are just lightly golden brown. Keep an eye on them – they can go from perfect to overdone quickly!

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes. This helps them set before you carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Patience is a virtue here!

In a large bowl, beat your softened butter until it’s wonderfully creamy.

Gradually add your sifted icing sugar, alternating with the eggnog. Beat until the frosting is smooth, fluffy, and utterly delicious. You might need to add a touch more icing sugar if it’s too thin, or a splash more eggnog if it’s too thick.

If you’re using it, stir in that rum extract for an extra layer of festive flavor.

Once your cookies are completely cool (this is important, otherwise the frosting will melt!), spread or pipe a dollop of that luscious eggnog buttercream onto the flat side of one cookie.

Gently place another cookie on top to create your perfect sandwich. Press down just slightly.