Preheat the oven to 350F.
Ensure the butter is room temperature, do not melt. Mix the butter and sugar. Whip until fluffy. Add egg, molasses, and vanilla and mix again.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Gradually add flour mixture into the butter mixture, combine well. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before baking.
Take out the refrigerated dough and form into small 1 inch wide balls. I prefer these cookies to be about 2 bites, you can always adjust to make them larger if desired. Place on nonstick baking sheet.
Bake for 9 minutes, until tops begin to crack. Let cool for 5 minutes, to crack more on the top. The cookie should be crisp on the edges, and nice and soft on the inside. Sprinkle white sugar on the top.