Whisk flour, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter for about 1 minute. Add sugar and cream for another 2 minutes.

Add molasses and mix until combined.

Add egg and vanilla and mix until incorporated.

Now, add all dry ingredients.

Mix with a spatula until incorporated.

Form dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Remove from the fridge. Cut into 4 pieces.

Roll one piece out at a time on a floured surface until about 1/8” thick. Cut into the shape of your choice. If you want to make linzer cookies, simply cut a hole in the middle of half of the cookies, as you are cutting out your shapes.

Place cut out cookies in a baking tray.

Pre-heat oven to 350 and place tray in the freezer while the oven pre-heats.

This will ensure that the cookies are cold, and the butter will be in a solid state and won’t start to melt as soon as it enters the oven.

And it will give the gluten formation a chance to establish its structure before the fat melts.

Bake for about 8-10 minutes, flipping in between if necessary.

Mix all ingredients except for the chopped chocolate, and vanilla in a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil over medium heat.

Simmer on low for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove form the heat, add chocolate and stir until melted together.

Add vanilla.

Let it cool down to room temperature before using. It can’t be too cold, or too hot. It needs to be just at room temperature.

Put all the top cookies (the ones with a hole on top) on a baking sheet and dust powdered sugar all over them. Set aside.

Pipe a dollop of fudge filling in the middle of a whole cookie. Place powdered sugar cookie on top.

Cookies will keep well at room temperature, very well packaged for 3 days. I kept mine in the fridge and they were still good on day 4 and 5.