In a medium bowl, whisk flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cocoa powder, cinnamon, cardamom, pepper and salt together.
In a large bowl, whisk granulated and brown sugars with oil, egg, and molasses.
Add dry ingredients and candied ginger and stir until just combined.
Scrap the dough out onto a work surface and pat into a thick disk.
Cut disk into 12-wedges and roll each wedge into a ball. NOTE: because the first batch of baked cookies were enormous, I made a change to the size per the following steps.
Scoop dough onto a parchment paper lined scale.
Measure each dough piece at 2 oz. Please note this was a change from the original recipe because I found the first batch of cookies cooked were too big.
Roll each dough into a ball and then roll each ball in the turbinado or sparkling sugar.
Arrange balls about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, until just set at the edges: rotate sheets from top to bottom and front to back half through baking.
Let cookies cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
Notes
This recipe is from Agatha Kulaga of Ovenly, bakery in NYC and was featured in Food & Wine Holiday Baking.