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
This treat definitely beats Dairy Queen, if you ask me! 🙂
Aww you’re so sweet — thanks Liz!! 🙂
What can you use in place of vanilla creme stevia. I have been purchasing some of your suggestions like the buttermilk powder and I just purchased stevia powder yesterday.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01I9D2R2I/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Lorraine! If you’d like to use that particular stevia powder, you’ll need 10 tablespoons, which is about half of the jar, and you’ll also need to reduce the milk by about 4-5 tablespoons to compensate. If you’re okay with purchasing the vanilla creme stevia, it’s a much more economical option for this recipe (and all of my recipes that call for vanilla creme stevia!), and it’ll make the pound cake turn out a little better than with the powdered stevia. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this cake!
I bought some vanila creme stevia to use in another one of your other recipes but I do not like the aftertaste. Have you tried using monk fruit sweetener?
No, I haven’t! 🙂
What would you substitute for the vanilla creme stevia if you didn’t have any!?
I’ve actually answered that already in the Notes section underneath the recipe! It can be easy to miss. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this pound cake Lauren!
AHH the Dilly bar!! OMGGG I used to be so obsessed with those, and the outer shell was THE BEST EVER. I upgraded to Blizzards easily as I got a bit older, my tummy was always being stretched to capacity. HAHA. This bread though, so moist. MMOOIISSTT. HAHA.
YES!!! I love that chocolate coating… I wish ALL of my ice cream could be coated in it! 😉 Thanks so much sweet friend!!
Do you use store bought yogurt? If I make this I will use my homemade yogurt
Yes, I use store-bought yogurt. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this pound cake Mike!
This pound cake loves lovely, and using coconut oil, egg whites and greek yogust instead of 9 eggs and 2 cups of butter makes this pound cake a real winner. Impressive recipe and story, I haven´t been to dairy queen in years!
Thanks so much Albert! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of this pound cake if you try it!
Thank you for your response about the stevia. Could you explain what makes this liquid stevia different from any other brand of liquid stevia? I have no problem buying it since I already see a few recipes of yours I want to make. I bought the jar of stevia thinking that was good for baking as well. Please let me know if the powdered form is sometimes necessary for certain recipes and I will keep that on hand too.
My pleasure Lorraine! I occasionally use the powered stevia, so it’s good to keep it on hand. No need to throw it out! 🙂 I’ve found that that particular vanilla creme stevia has the best flavor of any that I’ve tried, and it works exceptionally well in baked goods. It’s one of the most economical stevia products I’ve found because it’s very concentrated, so a little goes a long way — and helps minimize the cost of ingredients, which is always a good thing in my book! Does that answer your question? 🙂
You had me at first SIGHT- not even first bite! I cannot get over how delicious this pound cake looks. Would be DIVINE with a nice dollop of whipped cream!
You’re the sweetest Karly — thank you so much!! That really means a lot to me, coming from you! 🙂
Hi Amy, I am from Canada and I have been having trouble finding the Sweet Leaf Vanilla Creme stevia, and the amazon links I have looked through all only ship to the states. I was recently at bulk barn and they had the same brand of liquid stevia except the flavour just says “vanilla” not “vanilla creme”, I was wondering if that stuff will work in your recipes as well? Thanks 🙂
If it’s the same brand, then it should be fine! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this pound cake Tiara!