Last month, my grandma surprised my mom and me with baseball tickets for my birthday. That weekend, we drove downtown early in the evening to watch the Padres play—and collect our free beach mats, the game’s promotional giveaway!
While Mom wandered off in search of food, Grandma and I snapped a few quick pictures, including one of us, as little mementos. On a whim, I tweeted it to the Padres using their special stadium hashtag on the chance that they’d post it on their big scoreboard screen like they did with other fans’ photos throughout the game, but with a fairly large crowd, I didn’t have high hopes.
After a few innings, my mom nudged me. “Look!” she exclaimed. “That’s your picture!”
The Padres had displayed it after all, and they even tweeted me back to tell me that I could get free ice cream because it was my birthday! Giddy with excitement, I headed up to the concession stands shortly after, where the cashier handed me a gigantic serving of vanilla soft-serve.
When I returned to our seats, I handed it to Grandma. She bought the tickets, so she deserved the ice cream! (And she graciously gave me the souvenir miniature helmet that it came in… I collect those and have a stack of more than 20 from different teams!)
As much as Grandma enjoyed that birthday ice cream… No birthday is complete without cake too! So I baked this Healthy Greek Yogurt Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake for my family to enjoy! It’s perfectly tender and full of bright sunshiny citrus taste (my dad’s and brother’s favorite cake flavor!), but unlike traditional pound cakes, this one is just 127 calories with no refined flour or sugar!
It’s also really easy to make! You just need a whisk, fork, and mixing bowls. No electric or stand mixers required! Just watch my video below about how to make it!
But first… Let’s go over a few key ingredients. Starting with the white whole wheat flour. Yes, that actually exists—and it’s not regular white flour! White whole wheat flour is made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat (hence the name!), whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. White whole wheat flour has the same health benefits as regular whole wheat flour, but its lighter taste and texture is perfect for tender baked goods, like this pound cake!
Note: I included my favorite gluten-free flour blend in the Notes section of the recipe, if you prefer!
Unlike traditional recipes with a pound of butter (about 2 cups!) and eggs (around 9 of them!), this healthy recipe only requires 1 tablespoon of butter or coconut oil and 3 egg whites. We just shaved off hundreds of calories right there—thank goodness!
Instead of depending on lots of butter, this healthy pound cake gets its tender texture from Greek yogurt… But you probably guessed that already from the recipe title! Greek yogurt adds the same moisture for a fraction of the calories, and it gives your pound cake a protein boost, too!
You’ll 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 refined or artificial (aka it’s clean-eating friendly!). It’s also highly concentrated, so you just need 1 tablespoon to sweeten this entire cake. This is the kind I use because I love its warm vanilla flavor, and although many health-oriented grocery stores offer it, I buy mine online here because that’s the cheapest price I’ve found. (And you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
Of course, we can’t forget the true star of the show… The lemons! You’ll use both lemon juice and lemon zest to provide that bright sunshiny flavor. Don’t skip the zest—it actually provides most of that bright yummy taste! If possible, I recommend using Meyer lemons because they have a slightly sweeter and well-rounded flavor.
Cake! Everybody loves cake! (Even if this one doesn’t have any layers… ? Can you name the movie? ?) 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!
| Healthy Greek Yogurt Lemon Poppy Seed 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) lemon zest (about 3 medium)
- 1 ½ tbsp (13g) poppy seeds
- 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 + 2 tbsp (150mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3 medium)
- ½ cup (120mL) nonfat milk
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and coat a 9x5” loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- To prepare the cake, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Once thoroughly combined, whisk in the lemon zest and poppy seeds. 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. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 3 equal parts.)
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350°F for 40-50 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 the cake 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.
If you can find Meyer lemons, I highly recommend using those over regular lemons! They have a fuller, slightly sweeter flavor. Use lemons that are purely yellow without any green spots. Make sure to use the full amount of zest because that’s what provides the majority of the lemon 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 it 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 omit the milk, but the cake will no longer be clean-eating friendly. You may substitute 1 ¼ cups (240g) coconut sugar and omit the milk 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.
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.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, sugar free, higher protein}
View Nutrition Information
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Greek Yogurt Blueberry Lemon Pound Cake
♡ Greek Yogurt Cranberry Orange Pound Cake
♡ Greek Yogurt Lemon Pound Cake
♡ Greek Yogurt Strawberry Blueberry Pound Cake
♡ Greek Yogurt Raspberry Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
♡ Greek Yogurt Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
♡ Greek Yogurt Carrot Cake Pound Cake
Hi Amy,
A few weeks ago, my little sister picked some wheat from a straw field, threshed it, ground it up in our vitamix to make whole wheat flour, and gave it to me as a present. When I saw this recipe, I knew it was the perfect use for that flour! But then I realized we were out of lemons. 🙁 …..So I mixed up your chocolate drizzled raspberry banana bread instead. It is the BEST I’ve EVER had! Thank you!!!!
WOW! That’s so sweet of your sister — and I’m truly honored that you decided to make one of my recipes with your homemade flour! I’m so glad you loved the banana bread. That means the world to me that you called it the best you’ve ever had! Thank you so much Alec!! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of this pound cake if you get lemons and decide to try it too!
look so delicious, nice share
Thanks! 🙂
Hi Amy, my best friend shared her recipe for lemon poppy seed pound cake with me a few years ago. The recipe was from her mother-in-law who was born and raised is New Orleans. Needless to say, she was a great cook and baker. The baked goods were far from healthy, but admittedly, they were to die for. I can’t give up any of the recipes my friend shared with me but I must say your recipe is at par with the New Orleans one! Simply delicious without the guilt! I made two loaves and shared them with friends at my pool party. Instant hit! Thank you!
WOW! That’s such a huge compliment Carmelina — I’m truly honored!! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed the cakes as much as the New Orleans originals! ♡ I swear, you bake even more than me… Now if only I could hire your entire family as my official taste testers! 😉
Any I made my lemon poppy bread with white flour (what I had on hand) and it came out heavy .? Is it because of my flour?
LOVE your recipes! Thank you for healthy alternatives ?
PS. Hub still loves it warm with butter
I’m glad your husband enjoyed this pound cake Nancy! 🙂 Did your batter have the same consistency as mine in the video? Did you measure the white flour by scooping it directly from the container with your measuring cups?
I measured exactly as you did. I’m anal that way LoL. Read the measure instructions 2x. The batter was thicker. Maybe i need to get the pastry flour. Will try again ?
When you say you measured exactly as I did, does that mean you used a kitchen scale? That’s the only way I measure my flour because it’s much more precise than measuring cups! 🙂
hi,
can i use whole eggs not only egg whites?
Yes, you may use 3 whole eggs! The baking time may increase slightly due to the added liquid. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this cake Malika!
Does this result in a moist sponge like cake ?
It’s a very moist cake! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try it!
Followed the instructions to a T, except substituting powder stevia extract for the vanilla crème stevia.
My cake came out ok texture, but tasting rather bitter and sour 🙁 (from the lemons I suspect). Not sure if the powder stevia extract is the culprit here.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Sandra! What powdered stevia did you use (brand and product name!), and how much did you use? Just about every stevia brand and product has a different sweetness level, so they’re often not a 1-for-1 substitution. If you provide me with the exact stevia brand and product that you used, we’ll be able to tell if that was the culprit! 🙂