Air Fryer Donuts
, Updated Nov 09, 2022
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Air Fryer Donuts from scratch – these yeasted donuts are pillowy soft, delicious and cook in just four minutes! So easy to make, no need to fuss with oil and frying and just as yummy.
You will also love my Air Fryer Cookies and Air Fryer Cake!
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Who doesn’t love a fresh donut with a buttery donut glaze or sugary crust? The only reason I make them so rarely is that deep frying puts me off.
It’s not just the health aspect but also the mess and oil disposal post frying. Enter… Air Fryer Donuts! These delicious from scratch donuts use dough made with yeast but instead of fried they are Air Fried.
No fuss, less fat than deep-fried donuts, but all the taste and such an incredible treat! Light as air, incredibly fluffy and soft inside with a crisp, sweet, exterior.
They put Krispy Kreme, Tim Hortons and Dunkin Donuts to shame – this according to my husband who, as a Canadian, has a lot of donut eating experience.
Air Fryer Donuts From Scratch
When I googled “Air Fryer Donut recipe” I got a lot of results for recipes that use canned biscuit dough. Sure, it’s faster than making donuts from scratch but it doesn’t taste ANYTHING like a real donut.
A real raised and glazed donut (or doughnut!) takes a little time to make the dough but the results are totally worth it!
Donut Dough Ingredients
You will need a large Air Fryer for this recipe such as the Cosori which I recommend wholeheartedly! Air fryer liners are not essential but useful nonetheless. A donut cutter makes for uniformly shaped donuts.
- Milk – any type
- Shortening or unsalted butter
- Large egg
- Glycerine – this ingredient is found in the baking section and helps keep the dough softer for longer. You can leave it out or replace it with corn syrup
- Vanilla, nutmeg and salt
- Flour – I used 00 Pasta flour but you can use all purpose flour if you prefer
- Sugar – these donuts are not overly sweet but the added glaze makes them simply perfect
- Rapid rise yeast – this type of yeast is mixed in with the flour and requires no activation
Donut Glaze
This sweet donut glaze adds just the right level of sweetness. When you dip a warm doughnut in it, the butter will melt slightly creating a wonderful shiny glaze which becomes crackly when it dries.
You simply need unsalted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and hot water to make a classic glaze. You can leave the donuts plain or add sprinkles and other toppings if you like while the glaze is still wet.
How to make Donuts in the Air Fryer
Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page. Please take a look at the steps and video before attempting this recipe!
Make the dough. Add the milk, shortening and sugar to a mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer) and heat in the microwave until the shortening starts to melt. Stir to combine and allow it to cool slightly.
Stir in the egg, glycerine, vanilla, nutmeg and salt. Check the temperature – it should be just lukewarm.
Sift the flour and yeast into the liquid ingredients and stir to combine until you have a shaggy dough. Beat the dough using an electric hand mixer fitted with dough hooks or using a stand mixer. Alternatively rest the dough for ten minutes then stretch and fold with your hands until it becomes elastic.
Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise until doubled. The timing will depend on how warm your kitchen is – in the summer an hour should be sufficient.
Punch the dough down to deflate. Turn it out on a lightly floured worktop and roll the dough out to ½ inch thickness. Cut out the donuts – depending on the size of your cutter you will get 8-12 donuts and donut holes.
If you don’t own a donut cutter you can use any round cutter or a glass and cut out the centres using the underside of a piping tip or a shot glass.
Leave the donuts to rise again for 30 minutes. Spray them with oil or brush with melted butter.
Spray the Air fryer basket with oil and place 3-4 donuts to the Air Fryer basket spaced slightly apart. Air fry at 350F (180C) until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Repeat with remaining donuts and holes.
Prepare the glaze. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Stir the sugar in then add the vanilla extract and the water, a tablespoon at a time, until you have a glaze that drips slowly off the spoon in a steady stream.
Dip the donuts in the glaze while they are still warm and place on a wire rack to dry. If you would rather use a sugar crust, mist the donuts with cooking spray and dip into a plate of cinnamon sugar.
Storing and Serving
Air Fryer Donuts are at their best when freshly made. They don’t keep as long as deep fried donuts but you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature for a day or two.
Refresh them by heating them in a microwave for 15-20 seconds and they will taste good as new 😉
Have you made my Air Fryer Donut recipe? Please leave a rating, post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag @supergolden88 #supergoldenbakes and make my day!
Air Fryer Donuts
Video
Equipment
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
For the donuts
- 180 ml (3/4 cup) milk any type
- 30 g (2 tbsp) shortening or unsalted butter
- 50 g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
- 1 egg , large
- 1 tbsp glycerine or corn syrup (optional)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp grated nutmeg
- 360 g (3 cups) pasta flour or all-purpose flour / plain flour
- 2 ½ tsp rapid rise yeast (1 packet)
- Oil Spray as needed
For the Glaze
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter
- 250 g (2 cups) powdered sugar (icing sugar)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp hot water , or as needed
Optional Toppings
- sprinkles
- freeze dried strawberry powder
Instructions
Prepare the donuts
- Add the milk, shortening and sugar to a mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer) and heat in the microwave until the shortening starts to melt. Stir to combine and allow it to cool slightly.
- Stir in the egg, glycerine, vanilla, nutmeg and salt. Check the temperature – it should be just lukewarm.
- Sift the flour and yeast into the liquid ingredients and stir to combine until you have a shaggy dough. Beat the dough using an electric hand mixer fitted with dough hooks or using a stand mixer. Alternatively rest the dough for ten minutes then stretch and fold with your hands until it becomes elastic.
- Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise until doubled. The timing will depend on how warm your kitchen is – in the summer an hour should be sufficient.
- Punch the dough down to deflate. Turn it out on a lightly floured worktop and roll the dough out to ½ inch thickness. Cut out the donuts – depending on the size of your cutter you will get 8-12 donuts and donut holes.
- If you don’t own a donut cutter you can use any round cutter or a glass and cut out the centres using the underside of a piping tip or a shot glass.
- Leave the donuts to rise again for 30 minutes. Spray them with oil or brush with melted butter.
- Spray the Air fryer basket with oil and place 3-4 donuts to the Air Fryer basket spaced slightly apart. Air fry at 350F (180C) until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Repeat with remaining donuts and holes.
Prepare the glaze
- You will need to make this just before cooking the first batch of donuts. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Stir the sugar in then add the vanilla extract and the water, a tablespoon at a time, until you have a glaze that drips slowly off the spoon in a steady stream.
- Dip the donuts in the glaze while they are still warm and place on a wire rack to dry. Share and enjoy!
Notes
- To deep fry
Heat the oil in a large, deep pot. If you have a candy thermometer, clip it on. The oil is ready when it reaches 190C/ 375F. (To check if the oil is ready without the use of the thermometer, drop a small cube of bread in it. It should brown within a minute.) - Lower the doughnuts into the oil using a wooden spoon two at a time. Fry until golden – about 1–1 1/2 minutes on each side using a chopstick to flip over.
Drain on kitchen towels. - Dip each doughnut in the glaze while they are still quite warm. Twist the doughnut so it’s well covered in the glaze then place on a wire rack to cool.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is always approximate, and will depend on quality of ingredients and serving sizes.
OMG These look lovely! Might have a go!
I think I just found the perfect recipe! I LOVE doughnuts & these look absolutely delicious.
these look fabulous i will have to try to make
Oh gosh these look wonderful! I miss proper doughnuts. In Canada there were doughnut shops in every town. It's been years since I tried making my own, and I am inspired to give it a go!
These donuts look absolutely unreal! I really want to try and make them <3
Those donuts look AMAZING! Wow oh wow. This is definitely going onto my Pinterest board to try out!
They look like they're from heaven!! Thanks for linking up with #recipeoftheweek 🙂 I've pinned and tweeted this post and there's a fresh linky live now. Hope you join in x
Wow incredible, light, fluffy, pretty golden hoops of loveliness. Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays
Oh wow, how amazing do these look. Yum
Absolutely gorgeous!
I am in love with your photos – and that crispy glaze where you've ripped the doughnut apart!
Cannot stop scrolling back and forth.
Thanks for sharing your recipe and hints & tips! I have a doughnut pan, have made fried doughnuts once but still feel like I need to do my research before making the *perfect* batch and this post has helped considerably 🙂
Thanks Em – these are surprisingly easy to make – I have made them three times already and with perfect results every time. Can't wait to experiment with fillings and flavours now!