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Special equipment: a candy thermometer; 2 round cookie cutters (one smaller than the other)
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Line a 9-inch square baking pan with plastic wrap.
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In a saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.
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Add the sugar, corn syrup and milk, and whisk continuously until a candy thermometer registers 100 degrees F, which will happen rather quickly.
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Remove the saucepan from the heat.
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With an electric mixer on low speed, combine the bread flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, salt and cloves.
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Slowly pour the butter-sugar mixture in, and beat until thoroughly combined, 2 minutes.
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Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, cover with plastic wrap and press with your hands to spread the batter to the sides of the pan.
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Refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days.
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat several baking sheets with cooking spray, or line them with parchment paper.
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Cut the chilled dough into 4 equal pieces.
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On a lightly floured work surface, roll out 1 piece of dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch; dust with more flour as needed.
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(Keep the other dough pieces refrigerated until you're ready to use them.)
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Using 2 different-sized biscuit or cookie cutters, cut out concentric circles of dough, leaving a 1/2-inch-wide ring.
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The cookies shown are about 2 inches across, but you can make them larger or smaller based on the size of your cookie cutters.
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Place the rings about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
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Repeat with the other pieces of dough.
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Bake the cookies until slightly browner on the edges and firm to the touch, 10 to 12 minutes for smaller cookies, 15 minutes for larger.
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Cool the cookies on the baking sheets on wire racks for a couple of minutes before using a metal spatula to transfer them to the racks to finish cooling.
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Squeeze icing onto each cookie, leaving a thin border around it.
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While the icing is still wet, press the jelly beans into it end to end.
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The icing will spread to cover the cookie.
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Store the baked cookies, decorated or not, in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks; if decorated, stack them between sheets of wax paper.
