Air-Fried Desserts: Quick, Easy, And Delicious!

Air fryers are a handy kitchen appliance for preparing a variety of dishes, from appetisers to mains and even desserts. They can be used to make a range of sweet treats, from cookies and cakes to fruit-based desserts and chocolatey indulgences.

Air fryers are great for fuss-free bakes like brownies, muffins, cookies, and crumbles, and they also work well for more elaborate desserts like cheesecakes, puddings, and pies. The key benefit of using an air fryer is that it's quicker than a conventional oven, and you can make individual servings, which means less clean-up.

So, if you're craving something sweet, here are some dessert ideas to try in your air fryer:

- Chocolate chip cookies

- Brownies

- Apple fritters

- Donuts

- Churros

- Molten lava cake

- Banana bread

- Apple crisp

- S'mores

- Cinnamon rolls

- And much more!

Get creative and experiment with different recipes to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Characteristics of making dessert in an air fryer

Air fryer chocolate chip cookies

Ingredients:

• Unsalted butter (softened)
• Granulated sugar
• Brown sugar
• Large eggs
• Vanilla extract
• All-purpose flour
• Salt
• Baking soda
• Milk chocolate chips

Optional:

• White chocolate chips
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Chocolate candies
• Chopped pecans or walnuts

Steps:

• Combine butter, sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl.
• Beat the mixture until smooth and creamy.
• Add eggs, vanilla, salt, baking soda, and half of the flour. Mix until the dry ingredients are combined with the butter mixture.
• Add the remaining flour and mix on medium speed until the cookie dough is thick and creamy.
• Stir in the chocolate chips and optional nuts.
• Shape the dough into 1-1.5 inch balls using a small portion scoop or a spoon.
• Place the dough balls into the air fryer basket on top of parchment paper, leaving about an inch between each cookie.
• Air fry at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 7-8 minutes.
• Let the cookies sit in the air fryer basket for an additional 1-2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Tips:

• You can use a pre-made cookie dough instead of making your own.
• If you want less than 40 cookies, you can do a half batch or freeze the leftover dough for up to 3 months.
• For gooey cookies, reduce the cook time by 1-2 minutes. For crispy cookies, add an extra minute.
• Do not use the air fryer with just parchment paper; it must be weighted down by the cookie dough to avoid a fire hazard.

Storage:

• These cookies are best enjoyed fresh, but leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
• Leftover cookie dough can be frozen for up to three months.

Air fryer apple fritters

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 apple - peeled, cored, and chopped
• ½ cup confectioners' sugar
• ½ teaspoon caramel extract (such as Watkins)
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup butter, (½ stick)
• 1 tbsp milk, if needed
• 1 cup Powdered Sugar
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice, fresh
• 2 large Apples (such as Honey Crisp or Green Apples), peeled, cored and diced small
• Canola or Vegetable Oil, for brushing/spraying

Method:

• Preheat your air fryer to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place a parchment paper round into the bottom of the air fryer. Spray with nonstick cooking spray.
• Mix flour, 1/4 cup sugar, milk, egg, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl. Stir until combined.
• Mix 2 tablespoons sugar with cinnamon in another bowl and sprinkle over apples until coated. Mix apples into the flour mixture until combined.
• Drop fritters using a cookie scoop onto the bottom of the air fryer basket.
• Air-fry in the preheated fryer for 5 minutes. Flip fritters and cook until golden, about 5 minutes more.
• Meanwhile, mix confectioners' sugar, milk, caramel extract, and cinnamon together in a bowl. Transfer fritters to a cooling rack and drizzle with glaze.
• Serve with vanilla ice cream if desired.

Tips:

• I recommend using a Jonagold apple.
• You can replace the milk in the glaze with applesauce.
• Honey can be substituted for the caramel in the glaze.
• The glaze can be varied by adding brown butter, apple cider, or ground cinnamon.
• The apples should be firm, such as Granny Smith or Honey Crisp apples.

Air fryer churros

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

• Put a silicone baking mat on a baking sheet and spray with oil spray.
• In a medium saucepan, add water, butter, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
• Reduce heat to medium-low and add flour to the saucepan. Stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, cook until the dough comes together and is smooth.
• Remove from heat and transfer the dough to a mixing bowl. Let cool for 4 minutes.
• Add eggs and vanilla extract to the mixing bowl and mix using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer until the dough comes together. The mixture will look like gluey mashed potatoes. Use your hands to press lumps together into a ball and transfer to a large piping bag fitted with a large star-shaped tip.
• Pipe churros onto the greased baking mat, into 4-inch lengths, and cut the end with scissors.
• Refrigerate piped churros on the baking sheet for 1 hour.
• Carefully transfer churros with a cookie spatula to the air fryer basket, leaving about 1/2-inch space between churros. Spray churros with oil spray. Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may have to fry them in batches.
• Air fry at 375 degrees F for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
• In a shallow bowl, combine granulated sugar and cinnamon.
• Immediately transfer baked churros to the bowl with the sugar mixture and toss to coat. Working in batches. Serve warm with Nutella or chocolate dipping sauce.

Tips

• This recipe makes about 35 4-inch long churros.
• It is ok if a few little lumps of flour remain after adding the flour to the saucepan.
• Depending on the size of your piping bags, you might have to divide the dough into batches.
• Use a star-shaped tip to get the perfect shapes.
• If you don’t have piping bags or tips, you could also use a ziplock or freezer bag.
• Refrigerating the piped churros makes them easier to handle and they will keep their shape better while air frying.
• Don’t refrigerate the piped churros longer than 1 hour or they will dry out.
• If you have leftover dough, you can store it wrapped in plastic wrap overnight. Let it come to room temperature before piping it into shapes, as it is very difficult to pipe cold dough.
• Depending on your air fryer, you might have to bake the churros in batches. They will increase in size a little bit while baking, so leave some room between them.
• Immediately transfer the baked churros to the cinnamon sugar mixture. This makes the sugar mixture stick better to them.
• Churros taste best served warm. They don’t keep well. I don’t recommend freezing the baked churros.
• Serve with warmed-up Nutella, Chocolate Sauce (churros con chocolate), Caramel Sauce, or Whipped Cream.

Air fryer banana bread

This spin on the classic delivers moist banana bread thanks to the air fryer’s intense heat and air circulation. Cover the pan with foil for the first stage of baking to keep the bread moist without overcooking on the top.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large or 3 medium overripe bananas (about 1 cup mashed)
• ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup pecans, chopped

Method:

• Grease three mini loaf baking pans and set aside.
• In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt, set aside.
• In a separate large mixing bowl, mash the bananas and mix with the granulated sugar until creamy.
• Pour the melted butter into the banana mixture and mix well. Add the egg and vanilla extract to the banana mix and mix until combined.
• Add in half of the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir until just combined. Pour in the remaining flour mixture and stir until the batter is combined well.
• Gently stir in the chopped pecans into the batter.
• Preheat the air fryer to 330F degrees.
• While the air fryer preheats, scoop the batter into your prepared mini loaf pans, filling about halfway full. (This will make 3 loaves, if using a slightly larger pan you will want to fill the pans about ⅔ full and end up with 2 loaves).
• Place the pans into the basket of your air fryer and bake on the air fry setting at 330F for 20-25 minutes. *(A toothpick inserted into the center of the banana bread loaf should come out clean when it’s fully done cooking).
• When the banana bread has finished cooking, remove from the air fryer and let it cool fully in the pans before removing.

Tips:

• You can add chopped pecans, walnuts, chocolate chips or leave plain.
• This can be frozen—wrap sliced or whole loaves in plastic wrap, then foil, and they will keep in the freezer for up to 4 months.
• Canola oil can be swapped for the melted butter.
• You can use Baker’s Joy, a nonstick baking spray that has flour in it, to grease the pans.

Air fryer cinnamon rolls

Ingredients:

• 1 can of Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls (8-count)
• Cooking spray (coconut oil or non-stick)
• Icing (optional)

Method:

• Spray the basket of the air fryer with cooking spray.
• Place the cinnamon rolls from the package evenly in the basket.
• Set aside the icing.
• Air fry the cinnamon rolls for 8 minutes at 360 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Check in on the cinnamon rolls after 7 minutes to ensure they are not burning.
• Once done, carefully remove and top with icing (optional).

Tips:

• If the tops are browning well at the 4-5 minute mark, flip the cinnamon rolls over so they cook evenly on the other side.
• If you want the cinnamon rolls to be crispier, cook for an additional 1-2 minutes.
• If using a different brand of cinnamon rolls, check in on them after 6 minutes and adjust the time as needed.
• You can use aluminium foil or parchment paper in the air fryer.

Frequently asked questions