In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, cream together ¾ cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, and butter for about 2 minutes. Add in honey, vanilla, and egg. Mix until well combined, about 1-2 minutes.
Add half of the flour mixture into the butter mixture, and beat on low for 30 seconds. Add remaining flour mixture and beat until completely incorporated, but don't over-mix.
Wrap dough in wax paper or parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or over night if possible.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F.
Put remaining 3 tablespoon sugar in a small bowl. Take tablespoon sized pieces of dough and roll them into balls. Then roll those into the sugar.
Put cookies about 2 inches apart on baking sheets, press down, and transfer to a preheated oven. Bake for 8-11 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool on pan for 5 minutes then transfer to cooling racks or plate to cool completely. Enjoy!
Notes
*White whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour work well. Do not use regular whole wheat flour. Another option is all-purpose flour, and you can use gluten-free all-purpose flour too. Whatever flour choice you make, use 2 cups flour.*Dark brown sugar will give the deepest flavor, but light brown sugar works just as well.*Any type of honey is fine.*You can skip rolling the cookies in extra sugar if desired. You can also sprinkle with color sugar, or do both. *The cookies will not flatten much in the oven, so press them down to your desired thinness. The thinner you press the cookies, the shorter your bake time will be.*I prefer a shorter bake time so they are softer. But since ovens differ, check after 8 minutes and bake longer if desired. Also, leaving them on the baking sheet helps them get crispier if you want.*Store in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 5 days.*Based on a recipe from Cooking Light.