During my childhood, my mom brought my brother and I along on a few of her business trips to Arizona in late June, so once she finished gathering samples for her scientific job, we drove down to the southeastern corner of the state to spend the 4th of July with our grandparents.
They live in a tiny town with very little to do, but the city put on a spectacular fireworks display at the local high school every summer. Since my grandparents’ backyard had a clear, unobstructed view, we set up lawn chairs on the outdoor tile patio to watch the show.
But before it started, we all piled into Mom’s rental car to drive to Dairy Queen for a special dessert. Mom loved their ice cream treats, probably because she grew up in the hot desert climate, and because our California town didn’t have any nearby, she always wanted to stop by at least once to get her fix!
As young kids with small tummies, we skipped the big Blizzards and opted for a smaller classic treat: either a chocolate-dipped ice cream cone or a chocolate Dilly Bar. We tried really hard to wait to start eating until we arrived back at my grandparents’ house, but because ice cream melts extremely quickly in Arizona, our desserts often ended up with a few licks missing!
Since I’m not spending the 4th of July in Arizona this year, meaning ice cream won’t be a complete necessity to deal with the heat, I wanted to come up with a more festive homemade red, white, and blue dessert… Which resulted in this Greek Yogurt Strawberry Blueberry Pound Cake! {The cake itself counts as the white in my mind!} With no butter, refined flour or sugar and only 134 calories, it’s much healthier than the Dairy Queen desserts we usually enjoyed—and surprisingly easy to make, too!
Traditional pound cakes earned their name because they contain a pound of each of the following ingredients: refined flour, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Yikes! That’s a ton of calories from not-so-healthy ingredients… So since I still want to fit into my shorts and swimsuits this summer—and I’m guessing you might be in the same boat!—let’s talk about how to make this healthy pound cake recipe!
You’ll start with white whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose. Yes, white whole wheat flour exists—and it’s different from all-purpose white flour! White whole wheat flour is made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat, so it has the same health benefits (like extra fiber and nutrients!) as regular whole wheat flour, plus a lighter taste and texture that’s perfect for baked goods.
Instead of the 2 cups of butter and 9 eggs in traditional pound cake recipes, you’ll just use 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and 3 egg whites. Whew! My waistline just breathed a huge sigh of relief. The rest of this cake’s tender texture comes from Greek yogurt—but you probably knew that already! Greek yogurt has the same moisture as extra butter or oil for a fraction of the calories, and with about 21g of protein per cup, it also gives your pound cake a protein boost!
You’ll also skip the refined sugar and sweeten your pound cake with one of my favorite ingredients: vanilla crème stevia. Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that contains nothing artificial or refined (aka it’s clean-eating friendly!), and it’s highly concentrated. You just need 1 tablespoon for this cake—instead of a pound of refined sugar! This is the kind I use because I love its warm vanilla flavor and don’t notice any strange aftertaste like with some other stevia products, and I always buy it online here because that’s the cheapest price I’ve found. (And you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
Now that we have the “white” component taken care of, let’s talk about the “red” and “blue”: the fresh strawberries and fresh blueberries! They add an irresistible bright fruity flavor to this cake, making it taste like summer in every bite. Just remember to cut the strawberries to be a little smaller than the blueberries to ensure your cake bakes evenly!
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 I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your pound cake and feature it in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Greek Yogurt Strawberry Blueberry 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
- 1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- 5 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp (15mL) vanilla crème stevia
- ¾ cup (180g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp (270mL) nonfat milk
- 1 cup (140g) fresh strawberries, diced
- ¾ cup (105g) fresh blueberries
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line a 9x5” loaf pan with foil. Lightly coat the foil with nonstick cooking spray.
- To prepare the cake, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt 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 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 1 tablespoon of strawberries and 1 tablespoon of blueberries, and gently fold in the rest of both.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan, and gently press the remaining fruit on top. Bake at 350°F for 55-65 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 lifting out the cake by the foil and transferring it 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.
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!) I buy mine online here because that's the cheapest price I've found. However, if you really prefer to omit the vanilla crème stevia from the cake, substitute 1 ¼ cups (240g) granulated sugar and reduce the milk to ½ cup, but the cake will no longer be clean-eating friendly. You may substitute 1 ¼ cups (240g) coconut sugar and reduce the milk to ½ cup to keep the cake clean eating friendly, but it will be much darker in color. The baking time may vary with either of those substitutions as well.
Dice the strawberries to be no larger than the blueberries to ensure the loaf bakes evenly.
Frozen and thawed berries that have been patted dry to remove any excess moisture may be substituted for the fresh.
Any milk may be substituted in place of the nonfat milk.
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.
The foil is mostly for easy clean-up! If you prefer not to line your loaf pan, you can simply coat your loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray instead.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low sugar, higher protein}
View Nutrition Information
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Greek Yogurt Raspberry Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
♡ Greek Yogurt Blueberry Lemon Pound Cake
♡ Greek Yogurt Cranberry Orange Pound Cake
♡ Greek Yogurt Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
♡ Greek Yogurt Lemon Pound Cake
♡ Greek Yogurt Carrot Cake Pound Cake
Hi! So I recently bought the Vanilla Creme Stevia and have been trying it out in a few of your recipes. However, many sources I have read about stevia recommend using it along side sugar and that omitting all the sugar in a recipe could result in the stevia flavor overpowering baked goods. I wondered if you have ever come across this and was curious as to why stevia is the only sweetener used in several of your recipes?
Hi Allyson! With the exact vanilla creme stevia product that I use, I don’t notice any aftertaste in my recipes, which is why I use it as the sole sweetener in many of them. If you find you’re more sensitive than I am after using it in a few of my recipes, then you’re welcome to reduce its amount and compensate with another sweetener of your choice. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this pound cake!
Hey Amy, is it possible to substitute the stevia with maple syrup or honey? If so, how much? Thanks!
I’ve actually answered that already in the Notes section underneath the Instructions! It can be easy to miss. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this cake Chelsea!
Hi- in your notes section you do not mention honey or maple syrup as a sub. I too am looking for that as an option. Thx.
I’m honored that you’d like to try making this pound cake, Nicole! If you’d like to use pure maple syrup or honey as a substitute for the vanilla stevia, then use 1 cup + 3 tablespoons (285mL) and omit both the vanilla stevia AND the milk. Add 3 tablespoons of the pure maple syrup or honey where Step 2 instructs you to add the stevia. Skip the part in Step 2 about adding 2 tablespoons of milk. Use the remaining 1 cup of pure maple syrup or honey in the alternating additions at the end of Step 2 in place of the milk. Does all of that make sense? 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this pound cake!
Would it be ok to use original stevia and not the vanilla kind?
Yes! As long as it’s the same brand (SweetLeaf) or the other brand that I use a lot (NOW Foods), the original flavor will work perfectly as a 1-for-1 substitute. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of this cake if you end up making it, Amanda!