These air fryer donuts are chocolate-glazed donuts plus they are so much healthier than deep fried donuts! Less oil.
These air fryer donuts came out perfect! I air fried them for 4 minutes on each side. I was in a festive Holiday mood and added some red, white, and green sprinkles to the donuts. Have you made anything sweet in your air fryer? Get one during Cyber Monday or on Black Friday? Let me know in the comments below!
For more air fryer recipes be sure to check out Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breasts, Everything Bagel Chicken Tenders, Air Fryer Chicken Quesadillas, and Air Fryer Chicken Cordon Bleu.
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Easy Homemade Donuts from Scratch
If you don’t have a can of biscuits sitting around check out my recipe for using 2 Ingredient dough to make donuts. The recipe is just equal parts self-rising flour and Greek Yogurt. You will need a biscuit cutter
Ingredients Needed for Air Fryer Donuts
- Pillsbury refrigerated Grand Biscuits - These donuts are made from Pillsbury Grand Biscuits. They will taste like biscuits and not but I think the donut glaze helps out a lot. I like using canned biscuits because the donut shape is already there. All you have to do is poke a whole in the middle of the donut.
- Powdered sugar - Is also known as confectioner's sugar or icing sugar, it is a finely ground sugar that is commonly used in baking and dessert making.
- Cocoa powder - Is a product of cocoa beans that have been roasted, fermented, and processed to remove the fat, leaving behind a dry and bitter powder. I like Hershey's Cocoa Powder
- Milk - Dairy does not like me at all so I go for a lactose free milk such as Fairlife. It also has more protein in it.
- Vanilla Extract -Is made by macerating and soaking vanilla beans in a mixture of water and Vodka. Use a good pure vanilla instead of the imitation vanilla extract.
- Red and green sprinkles (optional)
- See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to Make Air Fryer Donuts
Step 1 Cut dough into 8 biscuits. Place biscuits on the cutting board. With 1-inch round cookie cutter, cut hole in center of each biscuit.
Step 2. Dip all sides of biscuits and center into butter; shake off excess butter. Place 4 biscuits in air fryer basket, spacing apart.
Step 3. Place 8 biscuit centers in bottom of air fryer basket. Set air fryer to 370°F; cook 2 minutes. Using tongs or spatula, turn over each biscuit center. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until deep golden brown and cooked through.
Step 4. In small bowl, mix Glaze ingredients. Turn each doughnut upside down, and dip halfway into glaze. Let any excess drip off, then transfer right side up to cooling rack or serving plate. Serve warm.
Air Fryer Donut Recipe Tips
The air fryer is so great for cooking simple basic food like air fryer steak, air fryer hard-boiled eggs, and air fryer bacon. Cook up some air fryer chicken breasts for the week and use it chicken quesadillas.
Overcrowding: Do not overcrowd the basket. Place items in a single layer in the air fryer basket or some food will not cook properly or all the way through.
Use a spray oil such as Pam to get food extra crispy and to save on calories.
Use parchment paper on the bottom of your air fryer for easy clean up.
Recipe FAQs
I have two air fryers. The Cosori 4 Qt Air Fryer and Ninja Woodfire Grill which is an outdoor air fryer. It’s pretty awesome! It has 5 different functions on it.
An air fryer is a kitchen appliance that cooks by circulating hot air around the food using the convection mechanism. It is a downsized version of the convection oven.
When you compare air-fried food to deep-fried food it is much healthier because there is hardly any oil used at all. The only oil I use is from my Pam cooking spray.
Yes donuts can be made using canned biscuits. It will not be close to the taste of a real cake donut though.
Air Fryer Recipes
If you tried this Air Fryer Donuts (using canned Biscuits) any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you! Follow along on Tiktok @jennarecipediaries
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Air Fryer Donuts (using canned biscuits)
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 2 - 3 min
- Total Time: 13 min
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Easy
- Method: Air Fryer
- Cuisine: American
Description
These air fryer donuts are chocolate-glazed donuts plus they are so much healthier than deep fried donuts! Less oil.
Ingredients
- 1 16..3 oz tube of Pillsbury Canned Biscuits
- 1 ½ cups of powdered sugar
- ¼ cup of cocoa powder
- ¼ cup of milk
- 1 tsp of vanilla
- red and green sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
- Separate dough into 8 biscuits. Place biscuits on the cutting board. With 1-inch round cookie cutter, cut hole in center of each biscuit. Dip all sides of biscuits and center into butter; shake off excess butter. Place 4 biscuits in air fryer basket, spacing apart.
- Set air fryer to 370°F; cook 5 to 6 minutes or until biscuit tops are deep golden brown. Using tongs or a spatula, turn over each biscuit. Cook 3 to 4 minutes or until deep golden brown and cooked through. Remove from air fryer; cover loosely with foil to keep warm while cooking second batch. Cook as directed above for remaining 4 biscuits. Remove from air fryer; cover loosely with foil to keep warm while cooking centers.
- Place 8 biscuit centers in bottom of air fryer basket. Set air fryer to 370°F; cook 2 minutes. Using tongs or spatula, turn over each biscuit center. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until deep golden brown and cooked through.
- In small bowl, mix Glaze ingredients. Turn each doughnut upside down, and dip halfway into glaze. Let any excess drip off, then transfer right side up to cooling rack or serving plate. Serve warm.
Notes
If you don't add any frosting to the top these will taste like plain biscuits.
Do not overcrowd the air fryer basket with biscuits. Will have to cook in batches.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 344
- Sugar: 42
- Fat: 7
- Saturated Fat: 3
- Carbohydrates: 43
- Fiber: 3
- Protein: 5
Jenna says
Thanks, Levie, and yes I agree about the healthier version. 🙂
Levie Marie says
We made these in our Ninja Foodi using the Air Crisper. They were amazing!!! People need to remember that this is just a healthier alternative to regular doughnuts. Thanks so much for a great recipe. We plan to make it again this weekend.
Kaye says
Love it!
Bry says
Huge waste of ingredients for the glaze because you don’t need a pound per donut but everything was pretty good.
Watch your biscuits, they will burn fast. Also, don’t expect a genuine donut. It’s still just a preformed biscuit.
Jen says
I made these, but threw the pieces of biscuit that came out when I made holes into the air fryer also to make “munchkins”. Those had more of a donut taste than the actual donuts did. If I make them again (probably will since kids seemed to enjoy them), I’ll roll all the dough into “munchkin” size pieces.
Jenna says
lol. I'm really surprised how many people think these will taste like an actual donut.