In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and creamy. Add the spices and mix until combined. Add the molasses and eggs and mix until just incorporated. Add the flour mixture in two parts, pulsing the mixer to keep the flour from flying out, then mixing on medium low speed until no more dry flour remains. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate 15 minutes or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat. Spoon out balls of dough about 2 tablespoons in size and roll between your hands to make a smooth ball. Place only two or three balls on the baking sheet with plenty of space all around them. Bake 14-16 minutes or until the dough has spread, the edges are browned, and the middles are still a little soft. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the pan before removing to a wire rack. Repeat with remaining dough, refrigerating the dough in between batches.
To prepare the icing, sift confectioner’s sugar into a large bowl. Whisk in milk 1 tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached. Add a few dashes of ginger and cinnamon to taste, just to give it a little flavor, and spoon over cooled cookies.
Notes
To save time, I like to prepare two baking sheets. As soon as one comes out of the oven I can pop the other one in. The first is done cooling and ready for more dough once the other one comes out. This will cut down on time significantly with the long cooling time.Here are a few ideas to customize your giant ginger cookies with icing:
Crumble leftover cookies into gingerbread cookie dough ice cream for an out of this world Christmas time ice cream concoction, or use to make ice cream sandwiches with the aforementioned ice cream
Add a couple extra tablespoons of flour for a puffier cookie
Sprinkle iced cookies with chopped candied ginger for an extra pop of ginger
Leave off the icing and roll cookie balls in coarse sugar (such as turbinado sugar) for a crunchy sweetness