Quick bread recipes suit today’s busy lifestyle, specifically because they don’t require kneading or rising time. Reducing sugar and adding whole grains, milk, yogurt and nuts increases the nutrition.

If you’ve baked in Wyoming, you’ve likely experienced the negative side effects of high-altitude baking with cakes overflowing or breads that resemble sunken valleys. Less atmospheric pressure means water boils at a lower temperature, so liquids evaporate faster and leavening agents expand more.

According to the Cooperative Extension food and nutrition experts at the University of Wyoming, using less baking powder or soda than called for in the recipe usually improves texture, volume and taste. General recommendations for high-altitude adjustments are that 1 teaspoon of baking powder or 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda per cup of flour is usually enough leavening for most quick breads at 5,000 feet. For recipe adjustments, it is generally recommended to reduce baking powder or soda by 1/8 teaspoon per teaspoon called for, and/or reduce the sugar and fat by 2 to 4 tablespoons for each cup in the recipe.

Baking is a science and an art. Try the smaller adjustments first; this may be all that is needed.

You can print your own set of Altitude Adjusters, from the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service at: http://ces.uwyo.edu/PUBS/b734.pdf.

You’ll find a great chart to help with cake baking and, just in time for holiday cooking, tips on candy making.

The following recipes have not been adjusted for high altitude.

Sunshine Bread

Roasted sunflower seeds and ground flaxseeds lend crunch and nuttiness to this quick bread. If you have flaxseed oil on hand, use a combination of 1 tablespoon of flaxseed oil and 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the batter, instead of all olive oil.

1/2 cup flaxseeds

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 large egg white

1 cup lowfat or nonfat milk

1/4 cup extra-light olive oil

1/3 cup roasted, salted sunflower seeds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 1/2- by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Dust with flour.

In a mini-food processor, spice mill or coffee grinder, grind the flaxseeds until finely ground.

In a large bowl, combine the ground flaxseeds, all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, combine the whole egg, egg white, milk and olive oil. Make a well in the flour mixture and add the milk mixture. Stir until just combined. Stir in the sunflower seeds.

Scrape the batter into the loaf pan. Bake 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then turn out of the pan onto the rack to cool completely.

Recipe source: University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter

Yogurt Waffles

Most people associate homemade waffles with leisurely weekend mornings, but they can also be a handy convenience food: Store them in the freezer and reheat them at breakfast time. Place them in plastic sandwich bags, squeeze out as much air as possible and seal shut. To reheat the waffles, pop them in a toaster or heat them in a 375-degree oven or toaster oven for 10 minutes. Increase the calcium content of the waffles by spreading them with yogurt, and top them with berries or other fruit for added fiber.

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 cups plain lowfat yogurt

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 egg, separated, plus 1 egg yolk

In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. When the butter is melted, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the yogurt and sugar; set aside.

In another large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg white until stiff but not dry; set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks; add the yolks and the yogurt mixture to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Stir half of the beaten egg white into the batter, then fold in the remaining egg white.

Spray a waffle iron with nonstick cooking spray and preheat it. (If your waffle iron does not have a nonstick surface, spray it with nonstick cooking spray before heating it. Do not respray the hot iron.) Pour the batter onto the waffle iron and spread it with the back of a spoon (it is thicker than the usual waffle batter). Cook the waffles about 4 minutes, or until crisp and brown. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Recipe source: University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter

Judy Barbe, a registered dietitian, is a spokeswoman for the Wyoming Dietetic Association.