• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Beat the sugar and shortening just until creamy.
• Add the egg and molasses and beat until blended, scraping the side of the bowl.
• Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices until evenly blended, then add to mixing bowl and stir or beat on low until you have a soft dough. At this point you can scoop it or you can press it into a ¼ inch slab and use 1 ½ round cutters.
• If scooping, using a small to medium size cookie scoop, scoop out balls of dough. Mash the tops slightly to help flatten and bake evenly. Sprinkle with coarse sugar. If using the icing you can skip the sugar.
• Bake the cookies on a parchment lined (or greased) baking sheet for about 10 minutes. Let cool on sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.

Frosting

• Mix together the softened butter, sugar and vanilla. It will be crumbly. Gradually add liquid, stirring until mixture is smooth and either thick enough to pipe from a baggie with the corner cut off or thin enough to drizzle.
• If using the piping method, scrape the frosting into a zipper bag, snip off the end and squeeze lines of it across the cookies. Alternatively, just drizzle over the top (skip the bag). Allow icing to set.