Like clockwork four times per week, Sister Annie Thompson awakens, attends morning prayers, has her breakfast, goes for a walk, and then she heads to the kitchen by 8 a.m. to prepare the batters for the mouthwatering cookies and delicious tarts which to some people is common knowledge, but in other circles is still a secret waiting to be uncovered. For people in the know the cookies and tarts from St. Martin Monastery are to die for and a secret they would like to hoard for themselves. In fact, by the end of any given baking day the many dozens of goodies produced that morning in most instances have been snapped up by those in the know -- through pre-order, and people simply calling up because they know Sister Annie had been in the kitchen that day.

Sister Annie is the chief "batter mixer" but is assisted in the kitchen by Sister Agnes Johnson and Sister Janis Coakley, who man the ovens.

They make two flavors of cookies -- oatmeal and raisin, and what people refer to as the "convent cookies", which Sister Annie and the nuns simply call fork cookies. The nuns use a fork to push them down instead of just letting the cookies fall, hence their name. This produces a thin, crispy, wafer-type cookie that people can't get enough of, according to Sister Annie.

Three flavors of tarts are also offered -- coconut and pineapple -- and a combination of the two fruits for their pina colada-flavored version. They offer mini one and two bite sizes that people snap up for functions as well as bigger-sized tarts.

While the cookies remain the most popular treat according to Sister Annie, she said the tarts are in high demand for private functions and are even outsourced. If you've ever picked up a tart at Bamboo Shack, you're eating a baked goodie that came out of the St. Martin Monastery kitchen. She usually has to bake for Bamboo Shack at least four times per week, as they sell out very quickly at the company's locations.

The cookies and tarts have been produced at St. Martin Monastery for decades. They pre-date Sister Annie taking over in the kitchen. According to Sister Annie, the knack for baking the goodies is in her genes because she grew up in Governor's Harbour, Eleuthera.

She proudly says that anyone who grew up there knows how to make tarts -- and how to make them right. She said her talent in the area of tart making was cemented after watching her cousin, Sister Margaret, who also grew up in Governor's Harbour, in action.

The cookie recipe came to them courtesy of a nun from Minnesota during her tenure in the country many decades ago. It's a recipe that Sister Annie has never seen. She learned to make the cookies from watching her predecessors in the kitchen.

"[The recipe] is written down. It's here on paper, someplace -- I don't know where, but someplace. I don't know because I never used the paper. I watched them do it and I just followed."

She described herself as the non-domestic type, and said she never got interested in the kitchen activities and the baking of the goodies until she was elected prioress of the community.

After her elevation to leader of the monastery she found herself at home all day and watching Sister Margaret prepare the cookies and tarts. When Sister Margaret became feeble, Sister Annie started to help her out.

That began Sister Annie's road to taking the lead in the production of the cookies and tarts. She has also had help over the years from many of her fellow sisters, including Sister Vernice Wilson.

"Once I stopped at the Nazareth Centre and decided I didn't want to deal with too many people anymore I said let me deal with the cookies -- because once I put the cookies in shape, they stay... tarts and things like that don't talk back to me, and so that's how I got into it," said Sister Annie.

The baking was going on before she returned to The Bahamas, approximately 20 years ago. Since taking over she has since put her Sister Annie touch to the recipes.

"I made some little changes... added some things, did some different things here and there. The basic recipe is the same... basically flour, sugar, baking powder, some people use eggs, we don't, that's an extra expense -- but I can't give away my secrets," she said when pressed as to exactly what she does. As for those deliciously crisp cookies she said she uses "regular flour, baking powder, vanilla, eggs, raisins... just regular stuff."

She's also not exactly certain how long it's been since the sisters started selling their goodies. All she remembers is that they've been baking them since before she returned home.

"We had always sent some [cookies] up to the hospital on Tuesdays. We had this lady working with us, Ms. Johnson. She felt they were so good that we should sell them out of the shop up at the hospital and so she came at least once a week and took a few dozen up to the hospital and she said they went like hotcakes," said Sister Annie. Before that they baked their goodies as an in-house thing and would give them to the people.

After their success at the hospital she said they refined their packaging and the rest is history. In the five hours that she devotes to the kitchen on baking days, Sister Annie and her helpers can produce up to 19 dozen cookies and up to 50 dozen tarts if they're ordered.

When they bake cookies on Tuesdays, by Wednesday the goodies are all gone, if not by Tuesday afternoon. They have also done up to 50 dozen mini tarts, which they did for the Lynden Pindling International Airport opening. They have also produced tarts for Arawak Homes' open house receptions.

Looking to the future, even though the monastery has an aging population, Sister Annie said she believes they will still be cranking out baked goodies 40 years from now.

Proceeds from the sales of the baked goods go to the monastery for its upkeep.

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