These simple air fryer donut holes are the perfect choice for a quick and easy breakfast treat! If you’re a late-night snacker who loves sweets, I highly recommend them for that as well!
Biscuit donuts are a quick and easy way to whip up a homemade treat for your family. But frying your donuts with oil can be messy work! The next time you’re ready to make donuts for breakfast, grab your air fryer instead!
Scroll down for a printable recipe card or continue reading for tips, tricks, and detailed directions for this recipe.
AIR FRYER DONUT HOLES
The best part about this simple recipe is that you only need five ingredients and a few minutes of your time to make them! Here’s what you need to make donuts in your air fryer.
Add in how much the whole family loves air fryer donut bites and this is a must-have recipe in your kitchen if you like air fried breakfast (or desserts!)
- Biscuit dough: Instead of whipping up your dough from scratch, cut your prep time in half and use refrigerated biscuit dough instead. Premade biscuit dough is the perfect option for making quick and easy donuts.
- Vegetable oil: When you make traditional donuts, you usually fry them in a pan of oil. And while you still need oil for this simple recipe, you need a fraction of the amount when cooking donuts in your air fryer. On top of being much less messy to make, these donuts are also a little healthier than the fried version.
- Butter: Since you won’t be frying your donuts in oil, they’ll be dry when you take them out of your air fryer. That makes it difficult to coat your donuts in sugar. To help the sugar stick to the outside of your donuts, it’s a good idea to use some melted butter.
- Cinnamon sugar coating: Coating your biscuits in this sweet mixture adds to the flavor, ensuring they taste amazing! It’s an easy mix of granulated sugar and cinnamon.
Once you’ve gathered up your ingredients, get your favorite air fryer ready to cook these delicious donut bites.
Exact measurements for each ingredient can be found in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
HOW TO MAKE AIR FRYER DONUT HOLES
This simple recipe makes biscuit donut holes, allowing you to cut the cooking time in half because you easily fill your air fryer basket with several pieces at once.
You can also make traditional donuts in the air fryer, but since the donuts take up more space in the air fryer basket, they’ll need to be cooked in several batches to get a cinnamon sugar donut for everyone to enjoy.
That’s why I suggest cutting your biscuits into bite-sized pieces.
Simply slice your donuts in half, then cut each half into thirds. Brush the biscuit pieces with vegetable oil, then place them in your air fryer basket. Make sure the pieces aren’t touching to ensure they all cook evenly.
Set the air fryer to cook at 350° for eight minutes. Halfway through the cooking time, remove the basket from the air fryer and shake to toss the pieces.
Continue cooking the pieces in batches until all the biscuits are cooked.
When all your donuts are cooked, melt some butter and brush each piece. Combine the cinnamon and sugar in a gallon-sized bag and add a few donut pieces at a time.
Shake to coat the donuts and serve them to your family.
You won’t see a preheat air fryer step for this recipe because my fryer does not require it. If your model does, be sure to preheat before you start cooking!
HOW TO MAKE FULL SIZE DONUTS
If you prefer making full-sized donuts in your air fryer, simply remove the biscuit pieces from the package and use a small round cookie cutter or knife to cut a hole in the center of each biscuit. You don’t need biscuit cutters unless you’re using a sheet of dough.
Brush each piece with vegetable oil and cook the biscuits at 350° for eight minutes, flipping the donuts halfway through the cooking time.
Since only three or four donuts will fit in the air fryer basket at one time, you’ll need to cook your donuts in batches until all the donuts are cooked.
HOW LONG ARE AIR FRYER DONUTS GOOD FOR?
I prefer to enjoy donuts when they are fresh. But you can store them for 1-2 days and they are still very enjoyable.
Save the leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature and they should be good for a few days. Because they aren’t made with oil, they do need to dry out and harden a bit over time. Pop them in the microwave for a few seconds and they will soften up. Just don’t put them in there for too long!
You can also freeze the donut bites before adding toppings. Then you can reheat them in the air fryer and add the desired toppings.
TOPPING IDEAS FOR NO-YEAST DOUGHNUT HOLES & BITES
While using cinnamon and sugar to coat your donuts is a delicious option, there are so many other ways to dress up your biscuits! Try these flavors the next time you make air fryer donuts:
- Powdered sugar: Swap out the cinnamon and sugar for powdered sugar. Add some powdered sugar to a bag and toss the buttered donut pieces until they’re coated.
- Cinnamon powdered sugar: Instead of using plain sugar to coat your donuts, try powdered sugar and cinnamon instead. Combine the powdered sugar and cinnamon in a bag, then toss the donut pieces to coat.
- Powdered sugar and chocolate: Create chocolate-covered donuts by combining powdered sugar with one tablespoon of cocoa powder. Whisk the ingredients together, then toss the butter-covered donuts in the sugar mixture before serving.
- Vanilla glaze: Blend together a quick vanilla glaze for your donut pieces by whisking together one cup of powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla, and two tablespoons of milk. Drizzle the glaze over the top of the donuts before serving.
- Vanilla glaze with sprinkles: Dress up your glazed donuts with the help of sprinkles. After drizzling the glaze over the donuts, add some rainbow sprinkles to the top.
- Chocolate glaze: To make a simple chocolate glaze for your donuts, whisk together one cup of powdered sugar with one tablespoon of cocoa powder. Add ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract and two tablespoons of milk and whisk to combine. Drizzle the glaze over the top of the donuts before serving.
BEST AIR FRYER FOR BAKING
The perfect air fryer is really a personal choice. For me, I prefer models with a basket versus racks and pans but I know some people who love having racks. The size you need also depends on your plan for it.
I currently own two models, one larger and one smaller for quick things like french fries and chicken tenders.
Below are some of the models I have had the opportunity to try and use.
| Image | Title | Price | Prime | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | COSORI 5.8QT Air Fryer | PrimeEligible | Buy Now | |
 | GoWISE USA 1700-Watt 5.8-QT Air Fryer | PrimeEligible | Buy Now | |
 | Dash 6QT Aqua Air Fryer | PrimeEligible | Buy Now | |
 | Ninja DZ201 Foodi 6-in-1 2-Basket Air Fryer | PrimeEligible | Buy Now | |
 | Dash Tasti Crisp Electric Air Fryer 2.6Qt | PrimeEligible | Buy Now |
Prices pulled from the Amazon Product Advertising API on:
Air Fryer Donut Holes
Equipment
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 1 package biscuit dough (separated and cut into bite-size pieces)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons butter (melted)
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Place the biscuit pieces in a single layer in the basket of the air fryer. Brush with vegetable oil.
- Cook at 350° for 8 minutes. Remove the basket halfway through the cook time and toss the donut pieces.
- Continue cooking in batches until all the dough is cooked.
- Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a gallon sized zip top bag.
- Brush the donut pieces with melted butter and place them in the bag. Shake to coat the donuts with sugar, then serve.
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