Thick And Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

1. Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, baking soda, and salt at low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Stop mixer and add butter pieces; mix at medium-low speed until mixture is sandy and resembles fine meal, about 1-1⁄2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and, with mixer running, gradually add molasses and milk; mix until dough is evenly moistened, about 20 seconds. Increase speed to medium and mix until thoroughly combined, about 10 seconds.
2. Scrape dough onto counter; divide in half. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, roll 1⁄4 inch thick between 2 large sheets of parchment paper. Leaving dough sandwiched between parchment layers, stack on baking sheet and freeze until firm, 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. Remove 1 dough sheet from freezer; place on counter. Peel off top parchment sheet and gently lay it back in place. Flip dough over; peel off and discard second parchment layer. Cut dough into 5-inch gingerbread people or 3-inch gingerbread people and place them 3⁄4 inch apart on prepared baking sheets; set scraps aside. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake until set in centers and cookies barely retain imprint when touched very gently with fingertip, 8 to 11 minutes, switching and rotating baking sheets halfway through baking. Do not overbake. Let cookies cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; transfer cookies to wire rack and let cool to room temperature.
5. Gather scraps; repeat rolling, cutting, and baking in steps 2 and 4. Repeat with remaining dough until all dough is used.

THIN, CRISP GINGERBREAD COOKIES
These gingersnap-like cookies are sturdy and therefore suitable for making ornaments. If you wish to thread the cookies, snip wooden skewers to 1⁄2-inch lengths and press them into the cookies just before they go into the oven; remove skewers immediately after baking. Or, use drinking straw to punch holes in the cookies when they’re just out of the oven and still soft. If you make gingerbread people, this recipe will make about thirty 3-inch people.
Quarter, rather than halve, dough and roll each dough quarter 1⁄8 inch thick, reducing oven temperature to 325 degrees, and baking cookies until slightly darkened and firm in center when pressed with finger, about 15 to 20 minutes.