THE art of making bread is sadly dying out; however, these recipes for some rather special breads will hopefully remind you that bread is versatile and delicious.

They are so easy to make, you’ll find it hard to return to a plain sliced white.

For all these recipes, you will need a 21 x 10cm (8 ½ x 4in) loaf tin. Remember when making bread not to “over mix” the ingredients, so you don't over- work the gluten in the flour and toughen the mixture, making the end result dry and tough. A loose mixture ensures a moist and delicious result.

To make Coconut Bread, you need: two eggs; 300ml milk; 1tsp vanilla essence; 300g flour; 2tsp baking powder; 2tsp ground cinnamon; 200g caster sugar; 150g desiccated coconut; and 75g melted unsalted butter.Š

Heat your oven to 180°C/Gas 4 and lightly whisk the eggs, milk and vanilla together. In a separate bowl sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon, add the sugar and coconut and stir to combine. Make a well in the middle and gradually stir in the egg mixture until just combined.

Add the melted butter and stir until the mixture is just smooth, taking care not to over mix. Grease and lightly flour your loaf tin and pour in your bread mixture then bake for about one hour, or until the bread is cooked. You can test this by pushing a skewer into the bread and pulling it out, if there is any uncooked mix clinging to the skewer pop it back in for a further 10 to 15 minutes. Leave the bread to cool for five minutes in the tin and then turn it out onto a wire rack. Serve in thick slices, toasted, buttered and a good dollop of Seville marmalade from last week.Š

This tasty recipe for Chocolate Banana Bread again needs a preheated oven and lightly floured bread tin as above. You need: 250g flour; 2tsp baking powder; 125g soft unsalted butter; 250g caster sugar; four ripe bananas, mashed; two eggs, lightly beaten; 1tsp vanilla essence; 175g good quality dark chocolate chips.Š

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Mix the butter, sugar, banana, eggs, vanilla essence and chocolate chips in a separate bowl. Add this mix to the flour mix and stir to combine, being careful not to over mix. Pour the mixture into your floured bread tin and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until cooked when tested with a skewer as above. Again leave to cool slightly before turning out onto a wire rack. You don't need any butter for this bread, just slice it fairly thick and serve warm with a glass of freshly squeezed juice.

ŠFinally, here’s Ša healthy option – Apple, Dried Cherry and Almond Loaf. Again use a lightly floured bread tin and the same oven settings as above.

You need: 50g rolled oats; 300ml milk; 240g self raising or wholemeal flour; 1tsp baking powder; 125g dried cherries; 50g dried, chopped apples; 75g soft brown sugar; 1tsp ground cinnamon; 3tbsp honey; one egg, lightly beaten; and 5tbsp roughly chopped almonds.Š

Sift the flour and baking powder and stir in the rolled oats, dried fruit, sugar, cinnamon, honey, egg and 3tbsp almonds, mix together well.

Spoon the mixture into your bread tin, level out the top and sprinkle with the remaining almonds. Bake for about 45mins, or until it is golden brown on top and cooked through; again leave to cool slightly before you turn it out onto a wire rack. Slice and serve with extra honey or even a little ricotta cheese.