Kim,

My apologies for a delay in my response.  Even though I had some ideas about solutions for you, I wanted to see if I could come up with some good food chemistry write-ups to share. 

I also noticed this too when I first moved to Alaska - things seemed drier and over-baked. I didn't do anything very sophisticated and usually don't notice much of a problem anymore.  My go-to ideas which tenderize the crumb and may help to retain moisture are to use a little less flour (a tablespoon or so), use a little more sugar and use a little more butter. In some cases (like a pie crust)  more ice water and some sugar, seem to work well for me.  You might also reduce the oven temperature but only slightly. I wouldn't try all of these at once!  I keep tabs on anything that I bake to make sure that it doesn't go beyond the done stage - quick breads and cakes can get dried out and seem tough if they over bake/over dry in the oven. 

In some cases, you may also want to put a small pan of water in the oven - this can help to keep the surface of your baked goods from drying out and toughening too fast (good for bread baking).  Even though the rapid protein and starch structure formation when things rise is important, slowing this a little and keeping the surface softer might yield a better product. 

The complicated interaction between oven temperature, time, transfer of heat through the product which is determined by fat and water content make it difficult to specify exactly what you should do for each product.  So, I am afraid that you will need to experiment with your recipes to see the solutions that work best.  

I am also a baker and would be happy to brainstorm more solutions if none of these work for you.  I can be reached at<personal data hidden> or <personal data hidden>

All the best to you,

Leslie