Mix It Up: In a big bowl, cream together the sugar and egg until it's nice and smooth. Mix in the butter and vanilla extract until everything's looking friendly and well-blended.
Dry Ingredient Shuffle: In a smaller bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt together. This is your dry team, ready to join the wet ingredients party. Slowly mix these dry ingredients into the wet mix until a dough forms.
Chill Out: Wrap up that cookie dough in some plastic wrap and let it take a chill pill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Preheat and Prep: Kick that oven on to 375 degrees F, and line your cookie sheet with parchment paper. Flour up your rolling space and rolling pin, then roll out your dough to about a ¼ inch thick.
Shape Shift: With a cookie cutter, go ahead and press out 12 little "gingerbread man" shapes from your dough and transfer them to your prepped cookie sheet.
Bake and Cool: Slide your cookies into the oven for 6-8 minutes. Once done, let them cool down to room temp on a cooling rack.