Okay, these are some of the recipes I have found after a quick Google.

What about the Shrewsbury Biscuits? Does that sound similar?

The Biscochitos and the Italian wine cookies sound nice, too. The Greek crescents are probably not the right consistency. I had one the other day, made by one of my students who is Greek. Yummm! But more crumbly and of a shortbread consistency than what you are looking for, I think.

Sherry Christmas Cookies
http://southernfood.about.com/library/holiday/blxm33.htm
·        1 1/2 c. flour, unsifted
·        1/2 c. sugar
·        1/2 tsp. salt
·        1/4 c. oil
·        1 egg, beaten
·        2 tbsp. sherry
·        1 egg white, slightly beaten
·        Green sugar
Mix all ingredients, except egg white and green sugar. Roll 1/8 inch thick, cut with small Christmas tree cutter, put on cookie sheet, brush with egg white. Sprinkle with green sugar and bake for about 10 minutes, 400 degrees.
Makes 48 cookies.

Q: What is "green sugar"?


Shrewsbury Biscuits

8oz plain flour
1 level tsp. baking powder
4ozs caster sugar
4ozs butter or margarine
(hard sort like Echo or Stork)
Half tsp. caraway seed
Quarter tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. rose water
1 Egg

Instructions

1. Mix the dry ingredients and rub the fat in.
2. Mix the egg with the rose water.
3. Add to dry ingredients to make soft dough.
4. Roll out on a floured board.
5. Shape into a long roll about 12 x 12 inches.
6. Refrigerate until firm enough to slice thinly.
7. Cut in half, then quarters etc. (Makes 32).
8. Bake on a greased tray 370F/190C/Gas No5.
9. Bake well apart on a greased tray for 10 mins.

Here is an extract by Elizabeth Anderton from "A Little Shropshire Gift Book", published in 1978 by Westmid Supplies, Mytton House, Coton Hill.
"Mr Palin, prince of cake compounders
The mouth liquifies at thy very name!"

"This fulsome praise, given in one of The Ingoldsby Legends, is for Mr Palin of Shrewsbury, renowned for his particular mix of Shrewsbury cake or biscuits.

These used to be bought by visitors in much the same way as shortbread in Scotland or clotted cream in Devon.

Recipes vary considerably but all contain spices and rosewater which is the ingredient that gives the distinctive flavour to Turkish Delight.

Different instructions specify the use of nutmeg, caraway, cinnamon; many add "sack" or sherry.

Here is one old recipe that I tried; it was possibly a little too sweet for modern tastes.
1lb each plain flour, fine sugar, 3 beaten eggs, caraway seed and nutmeg, 3 spoonfuls each of rosewater and sherry.

Mix altogether, roll out, cut into shapes, prick all over, bake in a moderate oven (I used 300F for just under 30 minutes.

The addition of butter and the reduction of sugar gives a result more like a shortbread as in this version, from A New System of Domestic Cookery by A Lady, 1819:

Shrewsbury Cakes
Sift one pound of sugar, some pounded cinnamon, and a nutmeg grated, into three pounds of flour, the finest sort; add a little rosewater to three eggs well beaten, and mix these with the flour etc.

Then pour into it as much butter melted as will make it a good thickness to roll out. Mould it well and roll it thin and cut it into such shapes as you like."S

Sherry Thins

Serves 30; 2 cookies per serving
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup light margarine
Egg substitute equivalent to 1 egg, or 1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cream sherry
Vegetable oil spray
Flour for rolling dough
In a large mixing bowl, cream sugar and margarine until fluffy. Add egg substitute and vanilla, beating well. In a large bowl, sift together 3 cups flour, baking powder and salt. Add to margarine mixture alternately with sherry, beating after each addition. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray baking sheets with vegetable oil spray. Lightly flour flat surface. Roll out half of dough. Cut out shapes with small cookie cutters. Repeat with remaining dough. (You'll have about 60 cookies if using 2-inch round biscuit cutter.) Put on baking sheets. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes, or until edges are light golden brown.


Biscochitos

Recipe By : The Dessert Show, Debbie Fields
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Cookies Tvfn

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Butter -- softened (2 sticks)
3 tablespoons Sweet sherry
1 Egg
3 cups All-purpose flour
2 teaspoons Baking powder
2 teaspoons Anise seed -- crushed
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix 1 cup sugar, butter, sherry and egg in large bowl. Stir in I flour, baking powder, anise and salt. Mix well. Divide dough in half. Roll each half 1/4 inch thick on lightly floured board. Cut into shapes using cookie cutters. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Mix together 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle mixture over cookies. Bake until golden brown.



Greek Grandfather's Christmas Crescents

The recipe for this Old World butter cookie was passed on to me in 1977 by my aunt, Minerva McFeaters. Her father, Athan Demetrius, a native of Constantinople who arrived in America in 1893, first taught her to make it in the 1920s.
1 cup soft, but not melted, butter (no substitution)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2/3 cup ground or finely chopped pecans (we used pecan meal we found at Giant Eagle)
2 tablespoons whiskey or brandy or cream sherry or 1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour, sifted before measuring
18 to 20 whole cloves
Powdered sugar for coating the crescents
Distribute the nutmeats evenly through the sugar.
Cream the butter into the sugar-nut mixture by hand until smooth.
Blend in flour, alternating with the flavoring (whiskey, etc.) until a ball of dough forms.
Shape the dough, on a floured surface, with floured hands, into a log 18 to 20 inches long and one inch thick. Cut the log into one-inch segments.
Shape each segment into crescents or half-moons, 1/2-inch thick.
Press a clove into the center of each crescent before placing on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden.
Being careful not to break the delicate cookies, lift each one onto a large square of waxed paper (my aunt used tissue paper) covered with powdered sugar and, while still warm, sift more powdered sugar over them.
Cool thoroughly before moving to an airtight tin.
Makes 18 to 20 crescent-shaped cookies.
Note: The cloves, representing spices the Magi brought to the Christ Child, are edible after baking, but remove them for the safety of very small children.
Stock family private holiday recipes collection, 1977.


Italian Wine Cookies

1 cup butter or margarine -- softened
2 cups sugar
2 egg yolks
5 cups sifted flour
dash   salt
2/3 cup sweet Marsala or sherry
1 egg white
Chopped nuts


Cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks and beat until light.
Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with wine and mix well. Chill. Roll out thin on floured board and cut with 2" cookie cutter. Place on ungreased cookie sheets, brush with slightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with nuts.
Bake at 325 degrees for 8-10 min.
http://www.geocities.com/hheber/cookies/