All is right again Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

So, from my last post, here are some ways i coped with the loneliness:
-tried to plan activities that involved interacting with other people almost every night
-tried to take up knitting again while falling asleep to "Phantom of the Opera"
-borrowed my neighbors doggy in the evenings for company

Segue:
My neighbors are awesome! I had an amazing dinner with them on Monday to take my mind off of worries. They are slightly older than me and husband and they have a 7 mo old adorable cutie. They are essentially examples of the people husband and I hope to be in a few yrs or so. It's really fun seeing a peer-ish couple doing the kid thing and still being cool, fun, interesting and not all consumed by child. They are v. loving toward the babe by the way. She's going to grow up great. I think you can tell a lot about a family by how the baby takes in the world. Neighbor baby (we will call her N) is a v. well adjusted, easily amused, calm baby. I want one just like her!
Anyways, the new neighbors like to cook and bake, and that was actually our first intro to them. The age old "Hi new neighbors! We baked some goods for you to welcome you to the neighborhood!" V (wife type neighbor) baked some amazing ginger cookies with large chunks of melt in your mouth chocolate and cocoa flavor all around. They were delicious! So, I borrowed her recipe, made it, and loved the cookies again. I do not know who the originator of the recipe is or I would give them mad props. Also, I plan on baking a ton of these and giving them in little baggies to all non-family for Christmas due to budget-induced-tight-walletedness.
A must post recipe:

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
(Makes about 20 cookies)

-7 oz high quality semisweet chocolate chopped up (I used 3/4 of a 12oz bag of Ghiradelli choco chips)
- 1.5 cups + 1 tbsp flour
-1.25 tsp ground ginger
-1 tsp ground cinnamon
-1/4 tsp ground cloves
-1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
-1 tbsp cocoa powder

Chop chocolate in 1/4" chunks. Combine dry ingredients listed above. Set aside.

8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter (room temp)
1 tbsp ginger
1/2 cup dark brown suger
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Beat ginger and butter in electric mixer with paddle attahcment until fluffy (about 4 min). Add brown sugar until combined. Add molasses until combined.

Dissolves baking soda in 1.5 tsp boiling water (I know this is a ridiculously small amount of water to boil, but I guess this step is important. So boil a few cups of water and then use only 1.5 tsp). Beat half of the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Beat in baking soda mixture. Beat in rest of flour mixture. Add chocolate and mix. Wrap up the complete cookie batter into plastic wrap. Refrigerate.

This is the part that is up to your discretion; Refrigeration.
The key to chewy cookies is refrigeration time. If you want denser, flatter, heavy, chewy cookies refrigerate these babies for ~2hrs. If you want really fluffy cookies do not refrigerate at all. My preferred time frame for chewy, slightly dense, yet light cookies is 1hr.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Roll cookies into into 1" balls and roll in granulated sugar (this gives them that pretty sugar plum christmas look!). Place on non-stick cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes. The cookies will look plump and raised with a couple of cracks in them. Be careful! 2 minutes too late for these cookies can make them v. crunchy and not as yummy.

Let cool until you can bear to pick up the hot aromatic melted chocolate goodness and stuff your face!

Love.