Whisk together the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, anise, cardamom, and cloves. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan on medium–low heat, melt the honey, butter, and brown sugar, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. When the mixture is completely melted and homogeneous, remove from the heat and transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl to cool until it is lukewarm.
Using an electric mixer, beat the cooled honey-butter mixture with the egg until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add the dry ingredient to the mixer bowl. Beat until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl to incorporate every last bit of flour. The dough will be soft and a little sticky.
Line your work surface with a large piece of plastic wrap. Dump the dough on top and work it with your hands, with the help of the plastic wrap, to shape it into a disk. Wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
Take the disk of dough out of the fridge, unwrap it, and roll it out on a lightly-floured surface to ¼-inch. Using lightly floured 2-inch cookie cutters, cut out and transfer them to the baking sheet.
Bake the cookies until set, but still soft, for 6 to 8 minutes. They shouldn't brown and you don't want them to dry out.
Cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack.
Continue with the rest of the dough. The dough scraps can be rerolled a few times to make more cookies.
Store the baked cookies in an airtight plastic container to keep them soft.
Icing
Whisk together the icing sugar with 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of milk. Add a little more milk until you reach a very thick, smooth consistency that allows you to dip the tops of the cookies in the icing to glaze them, without the icing running off the edges. I needed a total of 30 mL (2 tablespoon of milk) but you may need 37.5 mL (2.5 tablespoon of milk) even.
Dunk the top of each cooled cookie in the icing, shaking off excess, and flip over onto a wire rack. Sprinkle with crushed pink peppercorns or crushed cardamom and allow the icing to dry before storing in an airtight container.