Healthy Greek Yogurt Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake
Yields: 1 pound cake
 
This healthy pound cake immediately became a family favorite with its bright sunshiny flavor and perfectly tender texture! Leftovers will keep for at least a week if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
  • 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
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F, and coat a 9x5” loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. 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.)
  3. 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.
Notes: 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 will work as well, if measured like this.

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}
Recipe by Amy's Healthy Baking at https://amyshealthybaking.com/blog/2017/07/06/greek-yogurt-lemon-poppy-seed-pound-cake/