Heat the oven to 350°f . Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk the flour, spices, baking soda, salt and pepper in a large bowl until fully mixed. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the melted butter, molasses, brown sugar, yolk, and candied ginger. Whisk these together in the center a couple times (until the egg yolk is dispersed); then switch to a spoon or rubber spatula to continue mixing. The dough will be very thick!
Scoop the dough into balls (you can use a medium cookie scoop (1½ tablespoons) or take just shy of 2 tablespoons of dough for each cookie. Roll each in your hands briefly to shape it into a ball, then roll balls in the granulated or turbinado sugar for coating.
Space the cookies evenly on the parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until top is slightly firm to the touch, about bake 10 to 12 minutes.
Let cookies cool for five minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. The cookies will set as they cool.