Bread, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Dairy-free butter, peanut-hazel spread, jam, jelly, cinnamon, or sugar, your toppings are endless and their tastes divine. Be it soft and fluffy or thick and hearty, your center is as filling and satisfying as a the warm air of a summer night—or the crisp morning dew beneath our feet as we brunch, bread basket nearby. Historical records and evidence suggest that bread-making has been a culinary pastime for more than 30,000 years!

Left to rise in a bread machine or baked to a golden perfection in the oven—dotted with raisins, walnuts, rosemary, or sage—bread is the little black dress of the kitchen or tailored black blazer for the less dress-inclined. Served as a starter, accompanying accoutrement, the main menu, or as a sweet decadent dessert, bread is everything and anything your culinary mind can think of. The first mechanized bread slicer was invented by Otto Rohwedder in 1917 and led to the modernization of bread loaves—the evenly sliced, fluffy store-bought kind every kitchen counter has today.

Here are 5 of diverse and delicious bread recipes for you to bake and enjoy, ranging in versatility fitting for our favorite carb (nobody tell pasta!) :

Bread-Machine-Free Quinoa Wheat Bread
[1]Coconut Bread
[2]No-Knead Wheat Bread
[3]Peanut Butter, Banana, Chocolate Chip Bread
[4]Decadent Banana Bread [5]

*BONUS* Pumpkin-Apple Spice Bread [6]

Happy Breadmakin'
Webmistress Melissa