In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and ginger until well blended.

In a stand or hand held mixer, cream butter and sugar together for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Add molasses, eggs and vanilla and beat an additional minute.

Add dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.

Roll dough into balls using 1 heaping tablespoon dough. (If not frosting, roll balls in a bowl mix of ½ cup sugar and 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon.)

Place balls 3 inches apart on a nonstick mat or parchment paper lined baking sheet and slightly flatten with your palm or bottom of a glass.

Bake 350 degrees F for 10 minutes on middle rack of oven.

Let cool for 5 minutes then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely before frosting. If you like a crispier cookie, simply bake longer.

Beat butter, lemon juice and confectioner’s sugar until light and fluffy.

Add more sugar or lemon juice to taste (I usually use 3 tablespoons lemon juice total).

Frost cooled cookies with desired amount of frosting (you might have some frosting left).

Top with sea salt and lemon zest (optional but recommended!).