This easy and quick air fryer donut recipe post is sponsored by NewAir. All opinions are my own.
Craving a donut in a pinch? Not a fan of working with yeast? This air fryer donut recipe is so quick and easy, you won’t believe it!
If you’ve been wondering if buying yet another kitchen gadget is worth it, I’m here to tell you yes. 1000% yes. And that gadget is an air fryer.
Air fryers have been around for a few years now, but lately I feel like everywhere I look people are raving about theirs.
I was recently given a NewAir MCAF56DW air fryer to try out and since it arrived in a giant box on my doorstep, I have used it for everything:
- chicken drumsticks (the best I have ever had in my life, no lie)
- fresh halibut fillets my Dad and Brother caught in Alaska
- mini corn dogs (the obvious choice)
- plus my favorite, donuts!
First I have to rave about the chicken. The drumsticks were AMAZING.
The air fryer cooked them golden brown and crispy (without all the fat that a deep fryer would add, mind you) and the size of the NewAir MCAF56DW fryer basket was big enough that I could fit enough in one batch for the whole family! Plus I didn’t set off the fire alarms like I did the last time I tried to bake chicken in the oven…
But I digress… back to the donuts.
Yeast and I don’t really like each other. Pretty much every single recipe involving yeast that I have tried (and stubbornly tried again) has fallen flat. Bah dum ching!
So when I discovered that you can make donuts out of… wait for it… refrigerated biscuit dough, I was all for it.
I know what you’re thinking, “but won’t they just taste like biscuits?”
No, they actually don’t. I was surprised myself.
The key is how you prepare the dough before you air fry it, and what kind of glaze you use after. Let me show you…
Easy & Quick Air Fryer Donut Recipe
You will need:
- NewAir MCAF56DW Air Fryer (get yours with my special promo code BrePea20 here!)
- Basting brush
- Something to cut out the middle of the biscuit
- Extra flaky refrigerated biscuit dough
- Canola oil
- For the glaze: powdered sugar, butter, milk, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, sprinkles, optional food coloring
Step One: Cut out the donut.
I didn’t have any fancy tools for cutting the donut hole, so I used the bottom of a cup that comes with kid’s medicine. Ingenuity, people 😉
Step Two: Coat each donut with oil.
This step will ensure that the donuts come out brown and crispy.
Using a brush, coat the top and sides of the donut with a very thin layer of canola oil. A little goes a long way with this step.
Step Three: Put the donuts in the air fryer.
You want to leave enough space around the donuts for the air to circulate, so bake approximately 4 donuts at a time. They fit perfectly in my family-size NewAir MCAF56DW fryer.
Step Four: Set your temp and time on your air fryer.
To turn the fryer on, first plug it in and then press the power icon towards the bottom.
Press the ‘+ & -‘ buttons on the right side of the NewAir MCAF56DW air fryer to adjust the temperature, and the ‘+ & -‘ buttons on the left side to adjust the time.
Once the temp and time are set, press the power button again to start cooking. It’s that simple!
I have found that with my NewAir MCAF56DW air fryer, setting the temperature to 350 and the timer to 5 minutes resulted in perfectly baked, golden donuts.
Step Five: Let the donuts cool.
The NewAir MCAF56DW air fryer will automatically turn off once the time is up and beep to let you know to remove the basket. No need to stand over it watching like a hawk.
Place the donuts on a cooling rack and let them cool completely before glazing.
Step Six: Glaze and sprinkle your donuts.
Once the donuts are completely cool, you can glaze the donuts. This is the recipe I used:
- 1/2 c powdered sugar
- 1/2 t vanilla extract
- 1 T melted salted butter
- 1 t milk (I used skim since it’s what I had)
- For the chocolate glaze: 1 T cocoa powder
Since plain white is too boring, I decided to add a little food coloring to my vanilla glaze to make my donuts my favorite color. They might look a little like toothpaste (not my intention lol) but they sure taste good!
Make sure you finish them off with plenty of sprinkles.
If you want to take this amazing recipe a step further, box them up and slap one of my “You DONUT know how great you are!” free gift tags on it. The perfect easy (and delicious) gift.
I feel like my whole world has been opened up by the possibilities that an air fryer brings. Am I being dramatic? Heck no, this thing is amazing! 😀
I’ve only just scraped the surface with the types of foods you can make in the air fryer. Make sure you get your own amazing NewAir air fryer with my promo code BrePea20 and this link!
You can thank me later for changing your life 😉
