Last week when I stopped by the grocery store, I smiled as soon as I walked through the sliding glass doors. The supermarket strategically placed their bakery right at the very front, tempting customers with treats from the moment they entered.
A half dozen display tables stood scattered around that floor space, each holding its own dessert. Cookies, brownies, brownie bites, mini cupcakes, regular cupcakes, cake slices, cake pops, coffee cake, pies, tarts… Every sweet treat imaginable!
Of course, the store tucked away the not-so-sweet baked goods like bread, rolls, and bagels in the far corner… They knew those were far less tempting!
Last week, the bakery had added an extra long folding table display for Valentine’s Day, which looked as if it might collapse under the weight of all the products piled on top! It held packages of pre-baked sugar cookies and boxed cake mix, alongside huge tubs of sprinkles and containers of store-made buttercream frosting dyed in every color of the rainbow.
The bakery knew many people wanted to frost sugar cookies and bake cakes for their loved ones for Valentine’s Day… But those people usually lacked the time to do it all from scratch, so the bakery’s display solved that problem. Buy all of the pre-made components and just decorate at home!
As a kid, I would’ve begged my mom to let us do that… I loved store-bought frosting and treats back then! But as an adult, I’ve started to gravitate away from those overly sweet and decorated desserts towards simpler (and healthier!) options…
Like this Healthy Vanilla Bean Pound Cake! It’s so full of rich vanilla flavor that no frosting is necessary (and even the drizzle is optional!). This healthy pound cake is also really easy to make. You just need two bowls, a whisk, and a fork—no mixer!
But I saved the best for last… This healthy pound cake contains no refined flour or sugar, and it’s just 125 calories! That’s basically the definition of cake heaven in my book!
WHY IS IT CALLED POUND CAKE?
Traditional pound cakes earned their name because they contained a pound of each of the following ingredients: all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. They were really moist and dense… And had way more calories per slice than I want to think about!
So let’s talk about how we’re going to make our pound cake healthier!
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST HEALTHY VANILLA POUND CAKE
You’ll start with white whole wheat flour (like this!). Yes, such a thing actually exists—and it’s not a combination of white (aka all-purpose) flour and whole wheat flour! Regular whole wheat flour comes from coarse and hearty red wheat, whereas white whole wheat flour is made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat (hence the name!). This gives white whole wheat flour a lighter taste and texture, which is perfect for letting the tender texture of your healthy vanilla bean pound cake shine!
You’ll skip the pound of butter (about 2 cups!) and eggs (about 9 of them!). Instead, you’ll use a mere 1 tablespoon of butter and 3 egg whites. Whew! My waistline is doing a happy dance just thinking about how many calories we shaved off!
Therefore, the majority of this healthy vanilla pound cake’s tender texture comes from Greek yogurt. Although… You may have guessed that already! I love baking with Greek yogurt because it adds the same moisture to your cake batter as extra butter or oil for a fraction of the calories, and it gives your healthy pound cake a big protein boost, too!
Rather than granulated sugar, you’ll sweeten your healthy vanilla pound cake with another one of my favorite ingredients: liquid 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 your entire cake!
This is the liquid stevia that I buy because I love its warm flavor and don’t notice any strange aftertaste, like with some other stevia products. Although you can find it at 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, the true star of the show is the vanilla bean! Because it’s really hard to find good vanilla beans near where I live (especially ones that don’t cost an arm and a leg!), I use this vanilla bean paste instead. I buy it online here! It adds the same richness as regular vanilla beans — and just look at all of those pretty black speckles! They make me so happy! ♡
If you want to make your healthy vanilla bean pound cake look a little fancier, then add a little drizzle on top once it has completely cooled! I made mine with this healthy “powered sugar” as the base, then mixed it with milk and a little more vanilla bean paste. For easy drizzling, put it in a small bag, cut off a tiny piece of one corner, and drizzle away!
A slice for dessert… A slice before bed… A slice as a mid-afternoon snack… This healthy vanilla pound cake basically disappeared in the blink of an eye at my house! It truly is the BEST!
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 healthy vanilla bean pound cake!
| Healthy Vanilla Bean Pound Cake | | Print |
- for the pound cake
- 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 bean paste (see Notes!)
- 1 tbsp (15mL) liquid stevia (see Notes!)
- ¾ cup (180g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 ¼ cups (300mL) nonfat milk
- for the drizzle (optional)
- 5 tsp confectioners’ style erythritol
- 1 ½ tsp nonfat milk
- ¼ tsp vanilla bean paste
- 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, vanilla bean paste, and liquid stevia. Stir in the Greek yogurt, mixing until no large lumps remain. Stir in ¼ cup 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.)
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. 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 carefully transferring the pound cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To prepare the drizzle, just before serving, stir together the erythritol, milk, and vanilla bean paste in a small bowl. Transfer the glaze to a small bag, cut off a tiny piece of one corner, and drizzle on top of the cooled cake.
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.
This is the vanilla bean paste that I used! It’s much more affordable than buying regular vanilla beans, and it’s completely shelf-stable. Each teaspoon is the equivalent of one full vanilla bean! I bought it online here. For a stronger vanilla flavor, increase the vanilla bean paste by another 1 teaspoon.
You may substitute regular vanilla extract for the vanilla bean paste, but the vanilla flavor won’t be quite as prominent.
I do not recommend substituting for the liquid 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. For the best results, use the same liquid stevia that I did! Many stevia brands and products have different sweetness levels, so they're not always a 1-for-1 substitution.
However, if you really prefer to omit the liquid stevia from the cake, substitute 1 ¼ cups (240g) granulated sugar and reduce the milk to ½ cup + 2 tablespoons, 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 + 2 tablespoons 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.
In the drizzle, this is the confectioners’ style erythritol that I used. In a pinch, regular confectioners’ (powdered) sugar may be substituted for the confectioners’ style erythritol. However, regular powdered sugar is more absorbent, so start with ½ teaspoon of milk and add more as necessary to achieve the desired consistency.
I do not recommend baking this cake in square or round cake pans. If baked in either of these pans, the center of the cake will likely collapse because of the lack of sugar and how this cake is sweetened with stevia instead. (Sugar actually plays a role in cake’s structure — it’s not just there for sweetness!) For the best taste and texture results, use a loaf pan as instructed.
GLUTEN-FREE OPTION: For the gluten-free flour, use the following: 1 ½ cups (180g) millet flour, ¾ cup (90g) tapioca flour, ½ cup (60g) brown rice flour, and 2 teaspoons xanthan gum. Most store-bought gluten-free flour blends (like this one!) will work as well, if measured like this.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low sugar, higher protein}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Blueberry Pound Cake
♡ Healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake
♡ Healthy Raspberry Almond Pound Cake
♡ Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
♡ Healthy Cranberry Orange Pound Cake
♡ Healthy Eggnog Pound Cake
♡ Healthy Carrot Cake Pound Cake
Can I just use plain yoghurt, as I bought plain by mistake.
Love all your great recipes. Have made a plethora of your recipes, and always get compliments.
Thanks for sharing . Carol
Oh my goodness, Carol! That means so much that you’ve made many of my recipes. I’m glad your loved ones are enjoying them!
Plain yogurt should be fine to use in this recipe. I’m excited to hear what you think of this cake if you end up making it!
Just made this and the middle poofed up quite a bit! Did I over mix and add too much air?
It means a lot that you tried my recipe, Nicole! I’m happy to help figure out what might have happened. 🙂 Does it look like there’s almost a slight growth coming out of the top or side of the center of your loaf? How’s the taste and texture of your fully cooled pound cake? Is it only the appearance that’s a bit wonky?
The texture inside seems fine. The middle really poofed up and got a very craggy lid. Everything tastes good, I was just surprised by the appearance.
Thanks for sharing this additional info, Nicole! Although not yet with this vanilla bean version, I’ve actually had that happen to me a few times with my other pound cake recipes, but I haven’t been able to completely nail down the culprit just yet. As of now, my best guess is that there are air bubbles (aka carbon dioxide, which are formed naturally by the reaction of the leaveners with the yogurt and milk!) in the batter that {a} cause the batter to rise and {b} escape to the surface at a different rate than the top crust forms. 🙂
Just made this today. It came out great. Ask my guests and I were eating it my husband found the coconut oil in the microwave. Still delicious even though I forgot the oil 🙂
That’s too funny, Annemarie! I’m glad your pound cake ended up turning out well, even without the coconut oil! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it! 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to let us know! It really means a lot!
I can’t find the vanilla paste. How much do i use with regular vanilla beans?
I’ve actually shared a link to the exact vanilla bean paste that I use, and I just double checked. It’s still for sale and available! I’ve also answered your question in the Notes section of this recipe (located directly underneath the Instructions). I know it can be easy to miss! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of this cake if you try making it!
How many carbs are in this delicious looking cake?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Diane! The full nutrition information (including total carbs!) is available directly underneath the recipe box. I know it can be easy to miss! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of this cake if you try making it!
I cannot have yogurt b/c of the histamine. Can I just up the oil amount?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Danielle! I haven’t tried making this without yogurt, so I’m honestly not sure and don’t want to lead you astray. However, if you can have non-dairy yogurt (ie soy-based, almond-based, oat-based, etc — I’m not sure if those are any better!), those should work really well in place of the Greek yogurt. 🙂
Hi Amy! I made this today and it’s super tasty but the texture is totally different to what yours looks like. It’s spongy but like a crumpet rather than a cake. I had to use normal yogurt instead of Greek because I couldn’t find any, and when I was cooking it, the middle took ages to cook through while the top was quite dark. How can I do it differently next time to get the right texture??
It means a lot that you tried making my recipe, Elle! That sounds disappointing and not like how this cake should turn out at all. I’m happy to help solve that mystery, and in order to do so, I have some questions for you. 🙂
By spongy and crumpet-like, do you mean tough and gummy? (Just to make sure I fully understand your cake’s texture!)
What’s the exact yogurt (brand + product name) that you used in place of the Greek yogurt?
Did you make any other substitutions or modifications, including those listed in the Notes section?
Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups/spoons for all of the ingredients, especially the flour, yogurt, and milk?
Did you use a hand-held or stand mixer to make the batter?
How long did you end up baking your cake?
How dark was the top? (Golden brown, deep brown, black and burnt?)
Was the center fully baked all the way through?
Did it collapse at all while cooling?
I know I just asked a LOT of questions, but I’ll have a much better idea of the culprit once I know your answers to all of them!
I think part of the problem is that I’m currently living in Spain so a lot of the ingredients are slightly different. Tell you what, I’ll try again when I’m back home and when I have access to an electric mixer and an oven I know and I’ll let you know if it improves! At least it still tastes good!!
I’m so glad it still tastes good, Elle! But I actually advise NOT to use an electric mixer — that will ruin the texture! For the best results, use a whisk where explicitly instructed and a fork for everything else. (I mentioned that in the Notes section, but I know it’s easy to miss!)
If you answer the questions in my previous comment, I’m still happy to help troubleshoot! 🙂
Hi Amy! Okay I’ve got the answers to your questions:
* I used a natural yogurt from a brand called ‘Reina’. It says 0% fat and 0% added sugar
* I substituted the vanilla bean paste for normal vanilla extract, used white baking flour, and I haven’t found separate baking powders and sodas in the supermarket here so I only have a ‘levadura en polvo’ which is a powdered raising agent, soil I used the same amount of that as for the soda and baking powder together. I’m not sure sure which it’s more similar to in terms of how it works.
* I used a kitchen scale/spoon for all ingredients and a measuring cup for the milk.
* I used a whisk not an electric mixer.
* I’ve got no idea how long I ended up baking it for – over an hour though.
* The top was golden brown in some places and darkening brown in others so I put some tin foil over the top after about 50mins so it would cook less on the time while the middle was still cooking.
* The knife kept coming out with batter on, there was a small stream left on it when I finally removed the cake but I took it out anyway because I was concerning about the top burning.
* It collapsed when I put the tin foil on the top and popped it back in the oven, and stayed collapsed.
* The texture is soft and has air pockets but gummy seems like a good description. I can’t eat it with a fork because it doesn’t break away like a normal cake.
Hopefully this is helpful – thank you!!
This is SUPER helpful, Elena!! Thank you!
The texture description makes sense. I appreciate you elaborating on that!
For the Reina nonfat yogurt, was it their Greek variety or regular (non-Greek)? When you scoop it up with a spoon, is it really thick, and does it hold its shape on the spoon? (Rather than oozing off the sides!)
When I type “levadura en polvo” into Google, it seems like that might be baking powder, rather than baking soda… But there’s one way to know for sure! How many ingredients are listed on the side of your container of levadura en polvo? If there’s only one ingredient, that would be baking soda. If there are more (often around 3 ingredients), then it’s likely baking powder! Baking powder is baking soda with an added acid and sometimes an added buffer as well.
For the white baking flour, do you know if that was our US equivalent of all-purpose flour? Or cake flour?
Just to confirm, you used the same exact liquid stevia that I did, correct? Not one of the sweetener alternatives in the Notes section?
That’s perfect for a measuring cup for milk! I’m so relieved you didn’t use a kitchen scale for the milk. 🙂
Did you use the whisk for everything? Or did you switch to a fork for stirring in the Greek yogurt, milk, flour mixture, etc?
Did you use freshly separate egg whites? Rather than egg whites from a carton? (I forgot to ask that earlier — my apologies!)
Did you use the same size baking pan? Or did you use something else, like a circular or square baking pan?
Another question I should’ve asked earlier — did you use a regular oven, rather than a small countertop-style oven? If so, do you know if it’s a convection (fan-assist) oven, and what oven rack position did you use?
I’m assuming you removed your cake after 55 minutes to put tin foil on top. Is that correct? About how long was your cake out of the oven while you were putting the foil on top?
I have a pretty good idea of the culprit, but your answers to these should help confirm! Thanks SO much for your patience, Elena!
Hi Amy!
* Yes, the yogurt is quite thick and keeps it shape on the spoon. It’s not the Greek variety, I could only find kefir and wasn’t sure if that would work so I used the normal one because something else had used that!
* The raising agent has more than one ingredient
* I’m from the UK so all-purpose isn’t that commonly used, but the supermarkets here in Spain have ‘normal’ white flour and then a flour specific for baking cakes which is the one I’ve used.
* I used vanilla stevia, but it’s not the exact brand you use
* I did use the whisk for everything, oops!
* Yes I used fresh egg whites!
* I used a rectangular baking pan, but it’s foil. It’s 8in long, 3.5in wide and 2.5in deep.
* I think it’s a regular oven? It’s installed into the kitchen unit and has a cooker on top? I’m not sure whether it’s fan or not, but I had at around 170C, although I briefly knocked it down to about 155C when the top started to get dark, then up again to 170C when I put foil on it. I know it’s absolutely not helpful to do this but I was concerned about the top, oops! I had it in the middle, too
* It was out the oven for less than 5 mins while I put the foil on. It didn’t collapse while out of the oven but when I took it out after 10 mins to check under the foil, it had.
Thank you!!!
You’re welcome, Elena! I’m happy to help. Thank YOU for answering all of my questions — it makes solving this mystery so much easier! 🙂
Good to know about the yogurt! Do you happen to know how many grams are in each 1-cup measurement? I’m guessing it’s close enough to 240g/cup (that’s typically what it is for Greek yogurt!), but I thought I’d check, just in case.
It sounds like the raising agent is baking powder then! Because baking soda is stronger than baking powder (for the reasons I mentioned earlier — baking powder is baking soda that’s been “diluted” with other ingredients!), it may be that you need to add a touch more of your raising agent to “equal” the combination of baking powder and baking soda.
Okay — good to know about the stevia! Was the cake sweet enough? I’m hoping your stevia was a similar sweetness concentration as the one I used.
That sounds like a regular oven to me! If it has more than 3 oven rack positions (I think many regular ovens have around 5), then try using the 4th one down (aka the 2nd from the bottom) instead of the very middle “3rd” one. This will create more air space between the top of your pan and the top of the oven, which should help it brown a bit more slowly.
If you decide to make this cake again while in Spain, I’d also recommend covering the top with foil during the first 40-ish minutes of baking. It’s a LOT easier to put the foil on before, when the pan is still at room temperature, than when it’s hot! Also, the longer your pan is out of the oven, the greater the likelihood that the cake will collapse. It can actually start to collapse within 1 minute of removing it from the oven if the center is still raw. Unfortunately, once it starts to collapse, there’s no way to “re-inflate” the cake and make it rise again. This is another reason why I like to cover my loaves with foil during the first half of baking (like with my banana bread here!). It takes a lot less time to quickly remove foil than to try to crimp it into place on a hot pan without burning your fingers!
But I think we finally found the two biggest culprits… First, the whisk! Using a whisk for everything can often lead to overmixing, which then results in that tough, gummy, or crumpet-like texture. If you use a whisk just where explicitly instructed and a fork for everything else, that should create a better texture! The tines of the fork allow for the ingredients to mix together better, and its thin size (compared to the bulb of the whisk!) allows it to slide through the batter more easily as well. I actually use a fork for almost all of my baking for these reasons! 😉
Second, the baking pan! Since your pan is shorter (8″ vs 9″) and narrower (3.5″ vs 5″) than the one I call for in the recipe, this means that the batter will be “deeper” within the pan since it has less surface area to spread out (ie instead of the raw batter being 2″ tall in a 9″ long pan, it might be 2.5″ tall in your 8″ pan). Therefore, because there’s less surface area and more “vertical” batter, it will actually take more time to bake all the way through. This wouldn’t have affected the inner texture as much as the whisk, but it would be why your cake took longer to bake and why you needed to cover the top with foil. (And since your cake collapsed, likely as a result of removing it from the oven to cover the top with foil, the pan size would have indirectly affected the cake’s denser texture, if you wanted to be nitpicky! 😉 )
Whew! Does all of that make sense? 🙂
That’s amazing, thank you so much for all of your help you’re a star!!!!
It’s my pleasure, Elena! I’m so glad we figured it out! 🙂
hi amy the cake was gorgeous but like the lady above my cake is spongy like a crumpet what have i done
It means a lot that you tried my recipe, Julie! I’m happy to help solve that issue. In order to do so, I’ll ask you the same questions that I asked the lady with the comments directly above yours. If you read through our 10 comment exchanges of those questions and her answers, did any of the same things regarding the ingredients, baking equipment, or oven apply to your cake as well? (I mainly ask because that’ll get you an answer much faster than going back and forth with me! I’m still happy to help; I just wanted to see if reading through that would save you time. 🙂 )
If not… Then here are the questions! I’ll need to know your answers to all of them in order to determine the culprit. 🙂
Did you make any substitutions or modifications, including those listed in the Notes section?
Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups/spoons for all of the ingredients, especially the flour, yogurt, and milk?
What’s the exact flour that you used?
What’s the exact Greek yogurt (brand + product name) that you used?
Did you use a hand-held or stand mixer to make the batter? Or did you use a whisk where explicitly instructed and a fork for everything else (aka starting with stirring in the Greek yogurt!), like I mentioned to do in the Notes section of the recipe?
Did you use the same size baking pan? Or did you use something else, like a circular or square baking pan?
How long did you end up baking your cake?
Did you have the same burnt top issue as the lady above? If so, how dark was the top? (Golden brown, deep brown, black and burnt?)
Was the center fully baked all the way through?
Did it collapse at all while cooling?
How was the flavor? Was it sweet enough?
Hi Amy,
I made the pound cake twice. Both times it was too sweet. At first, I thought it was the stevia, so I reduced the amount to 3/4 tsp. But the second time, it was still too sweet. Then when I tasted the raw vanilla bean paste, that’s the too-sweet flavor that really stands out. (However, I used Taylor & Colledge organic vanilla bean paste with seeds because it was available at Giant and I didn’t need to order online).
Is it OK to substitute with vanilla extract? What about orange extract? By substituting, will the flavor be less sweet? Thanks
I’m honored that you tried my recipe, Algerina! Since I don’t have experience with that brand of vanilla bean paste, I don’t personally know whether substituting something will decrease the sweetness level. However, since you’ve identified that it’s the source of that “too sweet” flavor, there’s a pretty good chance that could help! 🙂
I’ve actually covered whether vanilla extract works as a substitute in the Notes section of the recipe (located directly underneath the Instructions). I know it can be really easy to miss that bit though! 😉 I haven’t tried orange extract, so I can’t personally vouch for the results of substituting that either.
If you do end up using either vanilla or orange extract, I’d absolutely love to hear how that cake turns out!
Hi,
Can I substitute out the egg?
We really appreciate your interest in our recipe, Emily! Amy actually has a family member who is allergic to eggs, and Ener-G is her favorite egg replacement substitute. If you haven’t heard of it before, Ener-G is a flavorless and shelf-stable powder that keeps for ages. It works perfectly as an egg replacer in nearly all of our recipes, including this one! For our recipes, use 1 ½ teaspoons Ener-G + 2 tablespoons warm water for each egg white (and you’ll need an additional ½ tablespoon of butter or coconut oil {or Earth Balance, if you’re vegan!} for each egg yolk, although that doesn’t apply to this particular recipe!).
We’d love to hear what you think of this cake if you end up making it! 🙂
Curious if this be used in cupcakes ? If so what do you recommend to adjust baking time? I’m in a baking competition and would love a healthy pound cake as an option.
We’re honored that you’d like to use our recipe for your baking competition, Nikki!
You can use the batter to make cupcakes. They’ll finish baking in less time than the cake. We typically start checking on cupcakes and muffins around 18 minutes, although they may need more time than that. They’ll be done when the centers feel firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with crumbs attached. My main tip would be to generously coat the cupcake liners with cooking spray. Low fat batters tend to stick to liners quite a bit, so coating them with cooking spray helps the liners peel away more easily.
We’d love to hear how it goes if you decide to make some cupcakes with this recipe!