Air fryer Donuts made completely from scratch are soft, fluffy, and Perfectly Air “fried”. Top with cinnamon sugar or your favorite glaze and enjoy these delicious donuts any time of the day.
Once you see how easy it is to make donuts in the air fryer, there’s no going back!
Air Fryer Donuts
It’s no surprise that homemade donuts are always a hit. But when you put them in the air fryer, that’s when the magic really happens. Cooking donuts in the air fryer creates a fluffy donut with the perfect outer crunch only to bite into a fluffy and light donut on the inside.
Since there is just a cooking time of 5 minutes for these donuts, you can easily enjoy them hot and fresh time and time again.
How To Make Air Fryer Donuts
To being making these delicious donuts, gather all your ingredients for the dough.
The first step is activating the yeast. In a glass cup/bowl, add water, milk, yeast, and 1 tablespoon of sugar to activate the yeast. Allow the yeast to froth up and set aside.
In a stand mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Add in the butter, egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and yeast mixture. Mix on medium speed until everything is well combined.
Grease a large bowl and place the donut dough, cover and place the bowl in a warm place to rise (1 hour).
Once the dough is doubled in size, transfer the dough to a floured surface and roll the dough using a rolling pin (½ inch thickness).
Using a donut cutter or cookie cutter of different sizes, cut out the donuts and place them on a baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet and allow the donuts to rise for 15 minutes, and meanwhile, preheat the air fryer to 345 F.
Grease the air fryer basket and gently place the donuts without touching each other. Air fry the donuts for 4 minutes.
In a medium bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. Mix well. Coat the donuts with cinnamon sugar on both sides once the donuts are out from the air fryer basket. Repeat the same with the remaining donuts.
Serve the donuts while it is still warm and store the remaining in an airtight container.
What other toppings can you put on donuts?
If you want to try other donut toppings, go for it! Donuts are meant to taste unique. I love a good cinnamon-sugar donut, but you can easily top these donuts with powdered sugar or a simple homemade glaze as well.
How do you store leftover donuts?
Air is your enemy when it comes to keeping baked or fried goods fresh. If you’re lucky enough to have any donuts leftover, you just need to store them in an airtight container and keep them at room temperature.
How do I know if my yeast is active?
Active yeast is a must for getting the donuts to rise. If you add the yeast to the water and don’t notice it frothing after a few moments in time, it means that your yeast is too old and needs to be replaced.
How can I cut down the amount of sugar in this donut recipe?
If you’re not overly excited about the sugar, you can see how it tastes with honey instead. I think the cinnamon-sugar mixture on the outside is key for providing flavor, but if you want to cut down on the sugar in the dough, that is up to you.
More Delicious Air Fryer Recipes
- Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Air Fryer Bagels
- Air Fryer French Fries
- Air Fryer Chicken Wings
- Air Fryer Chicken Tenders
Air Fryer Donuts
Ingredients
To Make Donuts
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1/4 cup warm milk
- 1 packet active dry yeast
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon to activate yeast granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 room temperature egg
- 1 egg yolk, at room temperture
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
To make Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a glass cup/bowl, add water, milk, yeast, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Allow the yeast to froth up and set aside.
- In a stand mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Add in the butter, egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and yeast mixture. Mix on medium speed until everything is well combined.
- Grease a large bowl and place the donut dough, cover and place the bowl in a warm place to rise (1 hour).
- Once the dough is doubled in size transfer the dough to a floured surface and roll the dough using a rolling pin (½ inch thickness).
- Using a donut cutter or cookie cutter with different sizes cut out the donuts and place them on a baking sheet.
- Cover the baking sheet and allow the donuts to rise for 15 minutes and meanwhile preheat the air fryer to 345 F.
- Grease the air fryer basket and gently place the donuts without touching each other. Air fry the donuts for 4 minutes.
- In a medium bowl combine sugar and cinnamon. Mix well. Coat the donuts with cinnamon sugar on both sides once the donuts are out from the air fryer basket. Repeat the same with the remaining donuts.
- Serve the donuts while it is still warm and store the remaining in an airtight container.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
The dough did not rise (the yeast wasn’t expired but still could’ve been bad). Secondly the dough was extremely sticky and was almost impossible to roll out even with extra flour. I finally got to cooking them and the taste is like an unseasoned cookie ). I assume your other recipies are great, but sometimes you screw up in the kitchen and you have to blame someone else for it, and in this case it’s Layla.