Preheat the oven to 350F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream the butter and sugar together with a mixer until lighter in color and fluffy.
Add the vanilla and egg and mix until smooth.
Add the baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and salt. And mix until smooth.
Add a third of the flour and mix until just combined. Repeat this two more times until all the flour is added. Be careful to not over mix.
In a separate bowl add the sugar for the coating, and the four spices for the coating. Mix to combine.
Portion the dough and roll into roughly 1.5 inch diameter balls (about gold ball size). For smaller cookies roll 1 inch diameter balls.
Roll the cookie dough balls in the sugar coating and place 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
Bake the cookies for 9-12 minutes.
Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing.