The first time I packed grated piloncillo into a cup measurement I understood why it is commonly referred to as “Mexican brown sugar.” Known in Mexico as piloncillo, the raw unrefined cane sugar has many names depending on the country. It’s known as panela and rapadura in Central and Latin America, while in Chile and Peru it is called chancaca. Typically piloncillo is sold in a cone-shaped block that does resemble hardened brown sugar. But brown sugar it is not. Its wonderful earthy, slightly bitter, warm caramel flavor sets it apart from other sweeteners and gives it a versatility that enhances sweet and savory dishes alike.

I don’t recall my Mexican grandparents keeping cones of piloncillo in their kitchen growing up—although, my grandpa’s notorious sweet tooth makes me think they must have. I hadn’t used it much until this year when I started developing the pan dulce menu for my panaderia. In Mexican dishes piloncillo is used to sweeten drinks like cafe de olla and champurrado , as well as for pouring over buñuelos , a kind of fritter. In my panaderia, piloncillo can be found in almost everything, from replacing the brown sugar in canela (cinnamon) rolls, to being used in tandem with granulated sugar in the crunchy shell topping for what is one of the most well-known pan dulce, the concha.

Recently I melted down an 8-ounce cone of piloncillo with a little water and orange zest to replace the molasses in a ginger cake . In a cake, the melted piloncillo works the same way molasses does. That same dark amber of the sweetener gave the batter a warm honeyed color, while melting the piloncillo provided moistness to the crumb. Because I was most familiar with using piloncillo in the Mexican cookies marranitos (or puerquitos, as it is also known), the spiced pig-shaped cookie that uses melted piloncillo, I wanted to play around with it in another cookie recipe.

Piloncillo has a higher price point than other sweeteners, specifically brown sugar. I’ve seen it sold online between $13.59 for a pack of three , to $4.95 for two 8 ounce cones . I highly suggest you check out your local mercado, if you’re lucky enough to have one nearby, as they will most likely sell piloncillo for a lower dollar amount.

The first test was a snickerdoodle-type cookie using only grated piloncillo and some granulated sugar as the sweeteners. As I was grating almost an entire 8-ounce cone of piloncillo and stopping to rest my arm for what felt like every two minutes, I wondered if I was asking too much for a cookie recipe. I decided the second test would have to include some melted piloncillo as well. Because this was a cookie featuring piloncillo, we simply have to grate at least some of it.

Ring in the New Year the low-effort way It may not be the steepest discount we’ve ever found, but not having to do dishes hungover is priceless.

For this recipe I opted for equal parts granulated sugar and grated piloncillo, about ½ cup of each. Piloncillo can also be (very carefully) hacked away at with a (very) sharp serrated knife. I don’t like treating the piloncillo this way simply because I don’t trust that I wouldn’t injure myself with one accidental slip of my hand. Should you decide to go this route, it is a bit easier to cut into the piloncillo by softening it in the microwave for about 20 seconds. You might have a small amount of leftover piloncillo syrup, which I highly recommend for pouring over ice cream or simply adding to your morning coffee.

Once the 1 cup of packed piloncillo is grated or chopped, set it aside while you brown the butter . I like browning the butter for this cookie because the nuttiness pairs well with the caramel-ness of the piloncillo. It’s an added bonus that browned butter makes the dough a one-bowl situation, although you can of course use a stand mixer if you’d rather let the machine do all the work (understandable).

When the butter is cooling slightly, measure or weigh out the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. I love sweet and savory desserts, and I love spicy desserts all the more, so I used a teaspoon of chipotle powder here. (If spicy isn’t your thing, you can swap the chipotle for another spice like ground ginger or nutmeg, or just reduce the chipotle to ½ teaspoon.) Ground cinnamon is there to accompany the chipotle, ever so gently nudging the spiciness a bit sweeter, while the orange zest brightens everything up.

Rolling the cookie dough balls in a mixture of chipotle and orange cinnamon granulated and demerara sugar reinforces the flavors in the cookie and adds a bit of sparkle, making this a solid contender for your holiday cookie list.

Modified from King Arthur Baking Company’s Gingersnaps recipe

Prep time: about 28 minutes (about 5 minutes to grate the piloncillo, 15 to melt the additional piloncillo and around 7-8 for the butter to brown + measuring or weighing out ingredients)