Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly coat 3 cookie sheets with cooking spray. Place white sugar in a small, shallow bowl.
Combine brown sugar, canola oil, molasses, and egg in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer until blended.
Stir together flour, baking soda, ground ginger, grated ginger, cloves, salt, and cayenne pepper in a second bowl. Add flour mixture to the molasses-egg mixture. Blend well; dough will be quite thick. Dough may be refrigerated or shaped at this time.
Roll dough into 1-inch balls and roll lightly in white sugar. Place 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets.
Bake in the preheated oven, 1 sheet at a time, for exactly 9 minutes. Cookies will still be soft, but will become crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside as they cool.