On Valentine’s Day a few years ago, one of my close friends drove to my town to visit her mother-in-law, and she asked if I had any time to hang out. I immediately said yes, and since we both have a big sweet tooth, I suggested that we met at my favorite local bakery.
But I completely forgot that nearly everyone else would make similar dessert plans on that particular holiday… And when we arrived, the line of patrons snaked past the front counter and all the way around the perimeter of the large dining area. Yikes!
We used the time in line to catch up, trade stories, and try to sneak peeks at the various cakes in the display case. Each one stood at least four layers tall, if not closer to six, with plenty of buttercream frosting slathered between each layer. And the shop sold nearly every flavor combination imaginable!
Chocolate, vanilla, coffee, mocha, mint, lemon, orange, coconut, poppy seed, red velvet, German chocolate, spice cake, carrot cake, yellow cake, devil’s food cake… And that didn’t even begin to cover the frostings or fillings!
We decided to split a slice and enjoyed every bite of the rich cake and silky smooth frosting… But this Valentine’s Day, I’m not standing in any lines to buy dessert—I’m making this Healthy Greek Yogurt Raspberry Almond Pound Cake instead!
Although it doesn’t look nearly as impressive as those six-layer cakes, this homemade cake is just as tender and flavorful—and much easier to make. You don’t even need a mixer! Plus it has no refined flour or sugar and only 126 calories!
That’s one cake I’ll definitely fall in love with! ♡
This easy pound cake recipe begins with white whole wheat flour (like this!). It has the same health benefits as regular whole wheat flour, but it has a lighter taste and texture. This allows the cake’s sweet flavors to truly shine!
Instead of the ginormous amounts of butter, eggs, and sugar of traditional pound cake recipes, you just need a mere 1 tablespoon of butter and 3 egg whites. Yes, that’s it! No need for the yolks or extra butter. The rest of this cake’s tender texture comes from…
Greek yogurt! (But you probably guessed that already from the recipe title…) I ♡ baking with Greek yogurt because it adds the same moisture to your treats for a fraction of the calories of extra butter or oil. Plus it gives this pound cake a big protein boost!
As for sweetening your healthy pound cake, you’ll use another one of my favorite ingredients: vanilla stevia. Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that contains nothing refined or artificial (aka it’s clean-eating friendly!), and it’s really concentrated. You just need 1 tablespoon for this entire cake! This is the kind that I buy because I love its warm flavor, and although you can find it in many health-oriented grocery stores, 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 two stars of the show… The almond extract and fresh raspberries! I love the sweet, sophisticated flavor of almond extract. (It’s actually my favorite baking extract!) And when chopping your raspberries, aim for the size of chocolate chips to ensure your pound cake bakes evenly.
One last tip! Do not use a stand mixer or electric mixer! It’s really easy to overmix this batter if you use either one of those, and overmixing results in tough or gummy textures. Use a whisk where instructed and a fork for everything else. (Bonus points if your whisk is dishwasher-safe!)
Cake! Everybody loves cake! Well… At least I do! ?? 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!
| Healthy Greek Yogurt Raspberry Almond 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
- 1 tbsp (15mL) almond extract
- 1 tbsp (15mL) vanilla stevia
- ¾ cup (180g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp (270mL) nonfat milk
- 1 ¼ cup (175g) fresh raspberries, diced
- 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. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg whites, almond extract, and vanilla 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 raspberries, and gently fold in the rest.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan, and gently press the remaining raspberries on top. Bake at 350°F for 50-60 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 carefully transferring the pound 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.
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 stronger almond flavor, increase the almond extract by an additional ½ to 1 teaspoon.
I do not recommend substituting for the vanilla 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 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 raspberries to be about the same size as chocolate chips to ensure the loaf bakes evenly. I know it takes a little extra time, but I promise it’s worth it!
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.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low sugar, higher protein}
View Nutrition Information
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Blueberry Pound Cake
♡ Healthy Greek Yogurt Strawberry Blueberry Pound Cake
♡ Healthy Greek Yogurt Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake
♡ Healthy Greek Yogurt Cranberry Orange Pound Cake
♡ Healthy Greek Yogurt Raspberry Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
♡ Healthy Greek Yogurt Carrot Cake Pound Cake
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy cake recipes!
Looks delicious! Will try.
I can’t wait to hear what you think of this cake Traci! 🙂
Hi there! This recipe looks great and I am excited to try it! I’m a first time stevia user – I was wondering if I can buy the original drops as opposed to the vanilla creme flavor? I noticed this recipe calls for the vanilla, whereas some of your other desserts call for original. Thank you!
I’m so honored that you’d want to try this recipe, Mariam! The two liquid stevia products that I use are completely interchangeable. (That isn’t always the case — many stevia brands and products have different sweetness levels! — but it just so happens to work out perfectly for the two that I use the most. 😉 ) No recipe modifications needed if you decide to swap one for the other! The original flavor one (NOW Foods brand) seems to be a lot cheaper, from what I’ve found, and it’s still the same quality… so that’s the one I use the most as of right now. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of this pound cake if you try making it!
Hi there! As a fellow almond extract fan, I’m excited to try this recipe! My family is not, however, big on raspberries. Do you think it would need any other modifications if I just omit them? Or replace them with chocolate chips or cinnamon? 🤔
My pound cake had a very bitter sweet taste, could I leave out the Stevia? Also I used exact measurements as you suggested and it turned out ok but not very light as I expected, turned out a little dense. I am always looking for healthy dessert recipes but not at the expense of taste.
I am going to keep trying your other pound cake recipes and hopefully they will be like the ones all your fans rave about.
It means a lot that you tried my recipe, Teresa! This cake is actually supposed to be on the moist and slightly dense side. It’s not meant to be airy, like angel food cake. However, it shouldn’t be so dense that it’s tough or gummy! Was your cake more of the former and just slightly dense, or was it the latter?
As for the flavor, that sounds disappointing and not like how it’s supposed to taste, so I’m happy to help figure out why that was! In order to do so, I have some questions for you. 🙂
Did you make any substitutions or modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section?
Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups/spoons to measure all of the ingredients?
Did you use the same exact stevia that I did?
If so, have you baked anything else with it before? Did you notice the same bitter sweet taste in those as well?
If not, what’s the exact stevia (brand + product name!) that you used instead?
Could you taste the almond extract separate from the bitterness?
I know I just asked a LOT of questions, but I’ll have a better idea once I know your answers to all of them!
Also, while I don’t recommend simply omitting the stevia (that would mean your cake would have the sweetness level of sandwich bread — aka not sweet at all!), I’ve included some other sweetener alternatives in the Notes section of the recipe, if you’d prefer to substitute one of those instead. 🙂
I’m considering using Greek yogurt to replace all or some of the oil in my Granola recipe. Might be a silly Q, but– would I have to refrigerate the granola then? I’ve never tried to use yogurt in this manner before… thank you..
I’m honored that you’d ask me for advice, Pat! I haven’t tried using Greek yogurt to make granola (only granola bars — and I did refrigerate those because they were soft-baked instead of hard and crunchy!), so I’m not personally sure and don’t want to lead you astray. However, I do have lots of granola recipes made with little to no oil. Perhaps those might be of any interest to you? 🙂 If so, you can find them here!
My ultimate healthy granola recipe might be a good place to start. It contains no oil or butter, and it’s a great blank canvas for adding in other mix-ins, like raisins, dried fruit, nuts, chocolate chips, and more!
If you end up trying any of my granola recipes, I’d love to hear what you think of them!
I made this recipe and for some reason the middle blew up and ran over the pan and didn’t get done as fast as the ends because it was thicker. This also happened when I made raspberry banana bread. Any idea why?
It means a lot that you tried my recipe, Dale! I’m happy to help figure out what’s causing those issues. In order to do so, I have some questions for you! 🙂
Did you make any substitutions or modifications to this recipe, including those listed in the Notes section?
Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups/spoons to measure all of the ingredients?
Did you measure the raspberries before or after dicing them?
Did you use a hand-held mixer or stand mixer to make the batter?
Can you describe the batter’s consistency right before you spread it into the pan?
Were there any large holes or air pockets inside of the fully baked loaf?
What are the dimensions, in inches, along the top edges of your loaf pan?
Was it this raspberry banana bread recipe that you made and experienced the same overflow issue? (I have 30+ banana bread recipes, so I just wanted to confirm the exact one!)
I know I just asked a LOT of questions, but I’ll be able to narrow down the potential culprits much more easily once I know your answers to all of them!
I made no substitutions, I weighed ingredients with a digital scale, I did not dice the berries because I use my own black raspberries which are much smaller than commercial red ones, I mixed by hand as directed, I would say consistency was about like pancake batter and seemed normal for similar recipes I’ve made, there were no air pockets or holes, the inner edges of the loaf pan are 8 1/2 by 4 1/2, and yes the other recipe is the one you linked.
Thank you for sharing your answers, Dale! It’s really helpful. These two recipes were designed for a 9×5″ loaf pan. Based on those measurements, the one that you’re using sounds like an 8×4″ loaf pan, so it’s too small. That’s a big factor into why the batter overflowed and the loaves didn’t bake properly! If you use the correct size loaf pan (with inner dimensions within the ranges of 9-9¼” and 5-5¼”), then you should have better luck. 🙂
Your black raspberries sound delicious too! I wish I had a green thumb. It’d be so fun to grow and bake with them!
Thanks. The pan I am using was labeled as a standard pan but I will find a bigger one if I can.
Those raspberries started on their own! All I do is cut out the dead vines at the end of each season. I just cleaned them out last week.
My pleasure, Dale! I’m happy to help!
That’s great to know about the black raspberries! If that’s all it takes, there’s a chance that even I could keep them alive… A very small chance, given my brownish-black thumb, but still a chance, nonetheless! 😉