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I like to use masa harina as a thickener in soups and chilis, as I’ve mentioned before. Its mild corn flavor is welcome in that use.

Last week, however, I realized that masa harina would be an excellent addition to my favorite peanut butter cookies. And, if I was going to add the masa harina, why not go the extra mile with the addition of cocoa and cinnamon?

The result is these little cookies, fragrant from the cinnamon and heady with the cocoa, crisp on the outside from the cinnamon sugar they’re rolled in before baking, and soft on the inside.

Neither cornmeal nor corn flour will substitute for the masa harina in this recipe. Why? Because cornmeal and corn flour are made from dried corn, while masa harina is made from nixtamalized corn – its nearest whole-food relative would be hominy. Nixtamalization is the process of soaking dried corn in something alkaline — usually lime water or occasionally wood ash water. The people of Mesoamerica may not have known that nixtamalization made corn’s nutrients more available, but they knew that the process improved the flavor and aroma of the maize they relied on.

Nixtamalization also improves the nutritional profile of corn, so that eaters who rely on corn for a significant part of their diet no longer risk the diseases related to a deficiency of nutrients, such as pellagra and kwashiorkor.

Here in the wealthy West, we rarely think of such diseases these days. But just a century ago, pellagra was endemic in the Deep South, where it was sometimes called “spring sickness� because it surfaced after winter’s meat-heavy diet of mostly salt pork and cornmeal. The high rate of pellagra among the South’s poor may have contributed to the cliché that Southerners walk, talk and think slowly: Among pellagra’s symptoms are physical weakness, mental confusion and dementia. Pellagra has caused more deaths than any nutrition-related disease in this country’s history.

I’m certainly not going to argue that these cookies are healthier because of their masa harina. I will say, however, that understanding such nutritional history reinforces my respect for traditional foodways, both here in the Southwest and elsewhere. I like honoring those foodways, and my masa harina cookies do just that.

Masa harina cookies

Makes about 30 cookies

These not-too-sweet cookies feature slightly crisp exteriors with soft interiors. Their flavor is both familiar and slightly exotic, as the masa harina provides an intriguing subtle note.

The combination of peanut, cinnamon and chocolate is a knockout.

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature

½ cup crunchy peanut butter

â…” cup sugar, divided use

2 eggs

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup masa harina

¼ cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided use

¼ teaspoon salt

Preparation

In a large bowl, cream the butter, peanut butter and â…“ cup of sugar until light and fluffy. It should be a very pale butterscotch color when you finish this step.

Add the eggs, one by one, beating after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, masa harina, cocoa and ½ teaspoon cinnamon. Add the combined dry ingredients to the butter sugar mixture in two steps, beating well after each addition.

Transfer the dough to a smaller bowl. It will be sticky at this point. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for two hours or overnight or set in the freezer for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, combine remaining ⅓ cup sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon on a shallow plate. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or non-stick silicone liners.

Using a tablespoon or a small scoop, measure out a portion of the dough and shape into a ball. Roll the ball in the cinnamon sugar, then place on a lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, placing balls about 2 inches apart. Flatten the cookies to about ½-inch thickness with the bottom of a glass, dipping the glass into the cinnamon sugar as needed to prevent sticking.

Bake eight to 12 minutes, turning the baking sheet from front to back about halfway through baking, or until the middle of the cookie is set and the tops of the cookies are no longer shiny. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool for two minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. Store the cookies in an airtight container separated by layers of waxed paper or parchment.