In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dark brown sugar, molasses, egg, oil, and vanilla until smooth, about 1 minute.

Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and spices in a separate bowl. Then stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture with a rubber spatula or spoon until a soft dough forms, about 1 minute.

Tip the dough onto a floured surface and knead it into a smooth ball for about 30 seconds.

Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a disc. Then wrap each disc and refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour.

Roll the dough to about 1/2" thick on a floured surface.

Brush the cookie molds with flour before pressing them into the dough firmly. Lift the mold up and cut the cookie out with a fluted cutter or round cutter.

Transfer the cookies with an offset spatula to parchment paper lined baking sheets.

Reroll and cut the dough scraps until all of the dough is used up.

Leave the cookies out at room temperature uncovered for 8-12 hours to dry out and set the stamped design into the dough. After the drying period brush off any excess flour from the cookies with a dry pastry brush.

When ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 300˚F (150˚C) then bake them for 12 minutes for small/medium-sized cookies and about 15 minutes for larger cookies. The cookies will puff slightly and should still be soft when pressed.

Transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely before optionally glazing them.

To prepare the glaze simply whisk the ingredients together into a fairly loose and free-flowing glaze. Then spoon or brush the glaze onto the cooled cookies. Return them to the cooling rack to allow the glaze to set before handling them further.