One year during my childhood, my family ran out of time to plan a birthday party for my younger brother. His birthday falls at the very end of summer vacation, just a week or so before school starts, and we ended up spending too much time running around restocking our supplies of pencils, paper, markers, and erasers that particular year.
We still celebrated with a “family” party on his actual birthday, complete with cake and ice cream and gifts from grandparents. (To this day, we still have family birthday brunches or dinners every year for each of us—they’re one of my favorite traditions!) But later that fall, Mom arranged for a really big party and invited all of his friends to make up for its tardiness to my brother.
She scheduled it for the first weekend of November at Pump It Up, a huge warehouse full of inflatable slides, bounce houses, and obstacle courses, just like what you’d find at the fair. Because the party wasn’t at the end of August, like usual, practically all of his friends could come since they weren’t on family vacations.
So for two hours, 25 of us kids bounced around like little monkeys, racing each other down the gigantic slide and holding competitions to see who could jump the highest in the classic bounce house. It took an entire banquet table loaded with cheese pizza, vanilla birthday cake, and cookies ’n cream ice cream to bribe us to stop so my brother could blow out the candles and open his presents!
Mom, you definitely outdid yourself that year. ♥
This year, I planned ahead and asked my brother what birthday cake he wanted over a month in advance. I already knew he’d request something lemon-flavored (it’s his all-time favorite dessert flavor!), and when he also included that he’d like it to have fresh fruit as well, I created this recipe for Greek Yogurt Blueberry Lemon Pound Cake. It’s bursting with that bright citrus flavor, and those sweet juicy berries truly take it over the top. But with just 133 calories, there’s still plenty of room for ice cream!
Or, in my case, a second slice…
Traditional pound cakes earned their name because they included a pound each of flour, sugar, butter, and eggs. My waistline is cringing at the thought of all those calories! This healthy one is the exact opposite, so let’s talk about how we’ll achieve that.
To start, you’ll use white whole wheat flour instead of refined flour. White whole wheat flour is made by finely grinding a special type of white wheat, whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. This gives while whole wheat flour a lighter taste and texture, similar to that of all-purpose flour, which is perfect for this tender cake! It also has the same health benefits as regular whole wheat flour, like extra fiber. I call that a win-win situation!
Note: Whole wheat pastry flour would be a great substitute, and I’ve included my preferred gluten-free flour blend in the Notes section of the recipe.
Instead of a pound of butter (that’s about 2 cups!) and a pound of eggs (about 9 of them!), you’ll only use 1 tablespoon of butter (or coconut oil!) and 3 egg whites. Just think of all those calories you’re shaving off! Because of that, the majority of this cake’s tender texture comes from one of my favorite ingredients in healthier baking. Do you know what it is?
Greek yogurt! (Although you probably guessed that from the recipe’s title…) Greek yogurt adds the same moisture as extra butter or oil for a fraction of the calories, and with around 21g of protein per cup, it gives your pound cake a protein boost, too.
To sweeten this cake, you’ll use another one of my favorite ingredients: vanilla crème stevia. Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that’s clean eating friendly. It’s very concentrated, so a little goes a long way! This is the kind that I buy because I love its warm vanilla flavor and don’t notice any strange aftertastes like with some other stevia products. You can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, and I typically buy it online here. (You’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
For the citrus flavor, you’ll add both lemon juice and lemon zest to the batter. I highly recommend freshly squeezed juice, and Meyer lemons are my favorite! The zest actually provides the majority of that bright sunshiny taste. My taste testers all agreed that 3 full tablespoons provided the best flavor, so don’t skimp on it!
And finally, fresh blueberries are the last ingredient you’ll add. I find that fresh berries have the juiciest flavor, and they’re like little bursts of bliss every time you bite into one. So summery and sweet! Gently fold the blueberries into the batter to avoid bursting them and staining the batter that strange shade of gray. And then, after a trip to the oven…
Time for cake! And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees that I’ll see the notification from you! ?) I’d love to see your pound cake and feature it in my Sunday Spotlight series!
And happy birthday bud! ♥
| Greek Yogurt Blueberry Lemon Pound Cake | | Print |
- 2 ¾ cups (330g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 tbsp (15g) freshly grated lemon zest
- 1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 tbsp (15mL) vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp (15mL) vanilla crème stevia
- ¾ cup (180g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ½ cup (120mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp (150mL) nonfat milk
- 1 ½ cups (210g) fresh blueberries
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and lightly coat a 9x5” loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- To prepare the cake, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg whites, vanilla extract, and stevia. Stir in the Greek yogurt, mixing until no large lumps remain. Stir in the lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of milk. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and remaining milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 3 equal parts.) Set aside 2 tablespoons of blueberries, and gently fold in the rest with a spatula.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan, and gently press the remaining blueberries into the top. Bake at 350°F for 45-55 minutes or until the top feels firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour may be substituted in place of the white whole wheat flour. Regular whole wheat flour may be substituted in a pinch, although the cake will be less tender and have a distinct wheat-y flavor.
The cake requires 3 full egg whites. The whites contain the majority of the protein in eggs, and that protein is required to ensure the cake maintains its shape and texture while cooling. Without all 3 egg whites, the cake will collapse while cooling and turn out much denser.
For a sweeter flavor, increase the vanilla crème stevia by an additional ½ teaspoon.
I do not recommend substituting for the vanilla crème stevia, if at all possible. (It’s one of my favorite ingredients, and you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!) However, if you really prefer to omit the vanilla crème stevia from the cake, substitute ¾ cup (180mL) of honey or agave. Omit the milk if using this substitution. The baking time may vary slightly. I do not recommend substituting pure maple syrup; it will overpower the lemon flavor. In place of the vanilla crème stevia, you may also substitute ¾ cup (144g) granulated sugar and decrease the milk to 6 tablespoons, but the cake will no longer be clean-eating friendly. The baking time may vary with this substitution as well.
Any milk may be substituted in place of the nonfat milk.
For the best lemon flavor, use lemons that are entirely bright yellow with no green spots. I prefer Meyer lemons, and I highly recommend using them if you can find them!
Frozen and thawed blueberries (pat them dry to remove the excess moisture from thawing) may be substituted for the fresh. They will stain the batter a grayish color, but the flavor should remain basically the same.
Do not use an electric mixer to mix up the batter. This will result in a dense or tough cake. Use a whisk where instructed, and use a fork for everything else.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie, lower sugar}
View Nutrition Information
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ Greek Yogurt Lemon Pound Cake
♥ Greek Yogurt Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
♥ Simple Strawberry Lemon Cake
♥ Simple Raspberry Lemon Cake
♥ Simple Orange Poppy Seed Cake
♥ Skinny Lemon Snickerdoodles
Hey Amy!
I love how you make delicious things so much healthier! I baked mine with honey because I didn’t have stevia and it tasted great but the middle was soggy. Do you know why? Should I have added more flour as the batter was a bit wet when I put it in the pan? (I didn’t add milk either)
Thanks,
Emily
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Emily! If using a substitution for the stevia, then the baking time may vary, like I mentioned in the Notes section. It sounds like your cake just wasn’t baked all the way through! Next time, if the top looks like it’s starting to brown too much but a toothpick inserted into the center still comes out with wet batter, then carefully place foil over the top of the loaf pan, seal it around the edges, and continue to bake your pound cake for an additional 10-15 minutes. This prevents the top from burning while allowing the center to continue cooking through. 🙂
Hi, I made this today, and I used all purpose flour I also used honey. As I was mixing it seemed like the consistency was way too thick and really sticky. I had to wait for over an hour for it to cook. Where do you think I went wrong?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Marlyn! I have a video for a similar recipe here (it uses poppy seeds instead of blueberries!). Was the consistency of your batter similar to mine in that video? Like I mentioned in the Notes section, the baking time will vary when you substitute another sweetener for the vanilla creme stevia. If the top begins to look too brown while the center isn’t fully cooked through, then you can carefully cover the top with foil after 60 minutes of baking to prevent the top from burning while allowing the center to bake through completely! 🙂
I made your cake (my first time baking with liquid stevia) and it was really delicious. I noticed that, when I added the lemon juice during the process, it reacted with the baking soda and formed a lot of bubbles. I tried to stir gently but they disapppeared as the reaction stopped. I felt these might have helped the cake be more airy (mine seemed dense. Does this happen when you add the lemon juice?
I’m so glad you enjoyed this cake, Janice! That means a lot to me! 🙂 I actually haven’t had the baking soda react quite that quickly… That’s really interesting! I have a video of how to make a very similar lemon pound cake here (located just above the recipe); was your batter a similar consistency? Did it look denser than mine in these photos? This cake is more on the heavier side, at least compared to airy angel food cake. If you decide to make it again, then I’d recommend swapping the order of adding the milk and lemon juice — so add ALL of the milk right after the Greek yogurt, then alternate between adding the flour mixture and the lemon juice at the end of Step 2. Does that make sense? 🙂
P.S. Loved the taste!
Amy, you are a superstar! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I was searching for a nice lemony dessert to bring for an Easter pot-luck and thought of pound cake, but wanted to look for a healthier version than the typical butter and egg-heavy one. I can’t even describe how amazing this turned out!!!! The cake came out supremely moist, lemony and not too sweet. As I found this quite last-minute, I had to make a couple subs based on what I had on-hand: used organic light brown sugar, and almond milk in place of non-fat milk, but your guidance was perfect in terms of measurements for the substitutions. I did bake it about an extra 15 minutes, but was prepared for that given the advice you gave regarding different timings if you sub’d sweeteners. Oh – and I am not a very experienced baker, but your instructions were great and I found it easy! The video you linked was a big help too. This will absolutely be one of my go-to recipes going forward!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this pound cake Jen! I’m truly honored that you’d include one of my recipes for such a special potluck and that you’d consider this a new go-to recipe. That means the world to me! 🙂 I’m really glad you found the substitution options and recipe video useful too! Thanks for letting me know — I always love to hear things like that! 😉 I hope you and your loved ones had a wonderful Easter!
Do you think this would work with the powdered form of stevia extract? I have chocolate liquid stevia or Trader Joe’s stevia. Don’t want to make the extra trip for a different kind of stevia. Thank you!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Julie! Does your Trader Joe’s powdered stevia say how much of that is equivalent to 1 teaspoon of sugar on the bottle? We can probably get that to work, once we know that information! 🙂
No it doesn’t. A serving is one tiny itty bitty scoop (45 mg). I went ahead and tried the recipe using 3/4 tsp of the stevia powder. It turned out ok, mildly sweet, but I don’t know how good it could have been if i had used the liquid.
I wish it shared that info Julie — that’d make it a lot easier! I have a feeling that the cake will turn out with better flavor if you increase the powdered stevia, maybe to 1 full teaspoon, if not slightly more. I know it’ll turn out if you’re able to find the vanilla stevia that I use though! 🙂
Hi Amy, can I use regular plain white flour?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Susan! I’ve actually answered this already in the Notes section of the recipe, directly underneath the Instructions. It can be easy to miss! 😉 I’d love to hear what you think if you try this pound cake!
So let me get this straight. I can use honey instead of the stevia. But if I DONT put the stevia and USE the honey I DONT use milk too. Will that change the texture? Thank you!!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Sophia! If you use honey, you don’t use milk. It may slightly affect the taste and texture. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this pound cake if you try it!
Hi Amy,
New baker in the learning here. Oh boy…. I followed your recipe exactly, and either I don’t know what I’m doing or i did something way wrong. My batter was so thick, i could barely stir it! And at this point, I am still using the wire whisk or a spoon? so needless to say, it wasn’t smooth at all. It’s in the oven right now and I’m holding my breath…Help!
Well Amy,
Here’s the latest on what the final result was. It was a complete disaster. I’m so sad. It fell even though i used 3 egg whites, and it was raw and mushy, even though i let it cook longer. It’s in the garbage. Any future suggestions?
Oh no!! That sounds really disappointing Melissa. I’m happy to work with you to figure out what happened! 🙂 When following the recipe, use a whisk where specifically instructed (aka just for the flour and then the egg whites part!), and use a fork for everything else (aka once you add the Greek yogurt). I’ve found that a fork does a much better job at incorporating ingredients without overmixing compared to a spoon! Just make sure you’re very gentle when stirring. Then that should eliminate overmixing!
The batter should be thick but not impossible to stir. How did you measure the flour? Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups? If the latter, can you describe in detail how you measured with them?
Also, did you use Meyer lemons or regular lemons? Often, this pound cake turns out extremely dense, collapses while cooling, and can have a “raw” appearance on the inside, even after baking longer. (It’s not actually raw though and totally safe to eat!) I’m still not entirely sure of the science behind it (and as an ex-chemist, I’m definitely trying to learn more about it!), but there’s a chemical difference between Meyer lemons (sweeter and not quite as acidic) and regular lemons (tarter and more acidic) that often creates a big textural difference in my lemon pound cake and lemon muffin recipes.
Based on the problems you described (falling and appearing raw), my guess is that you used regular lemons. If you can find Meyer lemons, it’ll make a BIG difference in the appearance and texture! But if you only have regular lemons, then like I previously mentioned, your cake will fall and may appear raw (it’s not and still safe to eat!), but it’ll still have the correct flavor.
Does all of that make sense? 🙂
Thank you Amy. Yes, i used regular lemons, and a whisk for everything. for the flour I used measuring cups and watched your video on how to do it. Apparenly, i don’t know what I’m doing! Yikes! Soon, I will give this another go! Thank you so much for your help. I’ll let you know how the next one turns out! I really want to learn how to bake healthy but yummy treats.
It’s my pleasure, Melissa! I have a video here on how to make a similar lemon pound cake recipe (the video is located directly above the recipe!), so I’d recommend using that as a guide for when to use a whisk vs a fork and what the batter texture should look like. 🙂
I don’t actually have a video on how to measure flour (but it’s on my to do list!), so I’m not quite sure what video you’re referencing… Maybe just reading my Baking Basics 101 post? But if you don’t own a kitchen scale, here’s what I recommend doing for measuring flour (and cocoa powder, oats, etc!): use a fork to “scoop” up flour from the container, and lightly shake the fork back and forth over the top of your measuring cup to transfer the flour into it. Once there’s a small mound of flour extending past the rim of the measuring cup, then place the flat back of a knife against the top of the measuring cup, and gently scrape it across the top to get rid of the excess flour. Never “pat” the flour down with the knife or fork. This fork method acts like a sifter (without dirtying another dish!) and guarantees you’ll add less flour to the batter, so you’ll end up with the correct texture (and hopefully a more moist and tender pound cake!). Does that make sense? 🙂
I’m also thinking… Maybe my regular blueberry pound cake recipe (here!) might be a better place to start until you can get your hands on Meyer lemons, just to ensure the texture turns out better! Or any of my other non-lemon pound cake recipes, if you’re up for it! 🙂
I’m so excited to try this for Easter this year. Can I use almond milk as a substitution for nonfat milk? Or would that affect the recipe?
I’m so honored that you’d consider including one of my recipes in your Easter celebrations Sydnee! That means a lot to me! 🙂 I’ve actually answered this in the Notes section (located directly underneath the Instructions). I know it can be easy to miss! 😉 I’m really excited to hear what you think of this cake! And happy early Easter!