Name: Air Fryer Donuts
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 4 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 10 -12
Ingredients: ¾ cup (180ml) milk (any type); 2 tbsp shortening (or unsalted butter); ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar; 1 egg (, large); 1 tbsp glycerine or corn syrup ((optional)); 1 tsp vanilla extract; ¼ tsp salt; ¼ tsp grated nutmeg; 3 cups (360g) pasta flour (or all-purpose flour / plain flour); 2 ½ tsp rapid rise yeast ((1 packet)); Oil Spray (as needed); 6 tbsp unsalted butter; 2 cups (240g) powdered sugar ((= icing sugar)); 2 tsp vanilla extract; 3 Tbsp hot water (, or as needed); sprinkles; freeze dried strawberry powder

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

↓ For the full ingredients and detailed method, jump to the recipe card.

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.

stretching and folding doughnut dough in a mixing bowl

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 #Nusde and make my day!