These air fryer donuts are light and airy. You only need 4 ingredients to make them. The donuts don’t contain any yeast, dairy or eggs. They are ready in less than 20 minutes.
I’ve been working on trying to create a good air fryer donut. These donuts are a little crispy on the outside and light and soft on the inside. I made them as round donut holes, but you can also roll out the dough and make traditional donut rings. These remind me of churro donuts, especially if you coat them in cinnamon sugar. You can also serve them with chocolate sauce.
Ingredients
- Water
- Oil
- Sugar
- Self-rising flour
Water: One of the main ingredients for these donuts is just regular drinking water.
Oil: I used canola oil for these donuts. You can probably substitute with other oils but you will likely taste the oil flavor if you choose a different oil. Canola oil has a more neutral flavor which is why we use it for this donut dough.
Sugar: The donut dough is lightly sweetened with regular granulated white sugar.
Self-rising flour: Self-rising flour is all purpose flour that is already premixed with baking powder and salt. You can also easily make your own self-rising flour by mixing together all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
How to Make Air Fryer Donuts
- The flour and sugar are mixed together.
- The oil and water are brought to a boil in a saucepan.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the flour mixture directly into the pot. Stir vigorously until a dough forms.
- Break off dough pieces and roll into balls.
- Place donuts into your air fryer basket insert.
- Cook the donuts in the air fryer, flipping them halfway through.
- The donuts are best enjoyed right away. You can eat them plain, roll them in sugar, roll them in cinnamon sugar or dip them in chocolate sauce.
Donut Texture
These donuts don’t have the same texture as traditional fried donuts. But they are very light and airy unlike most air fryer donuts which tend to be very dense. They also have a crispy exterior.
More Donut Recipes
4 Ingredient Air Fryer Donuts
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups (153 g) self-rising flour see note before starting
- 2 tbsp (24 g) granulated white sugar
- 2 tbsp (1 fl oz/30 ml) canola oil plus more for brushing
- 1 cup (8 fl oz/237 ml) water
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the self-rising flour and sugar. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, add water and oil and bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Remove the saucepan from heat and immediately add the flour mixture. Stir vigorously with spatula until a soft, elastic dough ball forms and no flour lumps remain. Allow it to cool for 5 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Make sure you add the flour to the saucepan and don't try to add the hot oil water mixture to your flour bowl. The dough will not set up correctly unless you add the flour mixture directly into the saucepan.
- Break off pieces of dough and roll into smooth round balls, about 1 ¼ inch thick.
- Lightly brush some canola oil over the donut holes.
- Grease the interior of your air fryer basket with cooking oil spray. Add donut holes to the air fryer basket insert, ensuring they do not touch each other. You may need to cook the donuts in 2-3 batches.
- Preheat your air fryer to 375°F (190°C) (the air fryer basket with the donuts should not be in the air fryer when it is preheating. Air fry the donuts at preheated 375°F (190°C) for about 9 minutes, flipping them halfway through cooking, until they turn light golden brown and are fully cooked inside.
- Allow donuts to cool slightly before eating. Donuts are best enjoyed soon after they are done cooking. If desired, you can roll the donuts in sugar or cinnamon sugar before serving. You can also serve them with a chocolate dipping sauce. If you do plan on rolling them in sugar or cinnamon sugar, do so immediately after they come out of the air fryer so that sugar sticks to the donuts.
Notes
- Self-rising flour amount. There are 2 main kinds of self-rising flour sold in the US. One that is a lower protein (2 grams per 1/4 cup (30g)) flour and one that has a regular amount of protein (3 grams per 1/4 cup (30 g)). Brands like King Arthur Flour and White Lily make the low protein flour. Brands like Gold Medal and most store/generic brands contain a regular protein amount. The amount of protein affects how much liquid is absorbed. For this recipe, I tested it with Gold Medal self-rising flour (regular amount of protein). Please use a self-rising flour with 3 grams of protein per 1/4 cup (30 g). Or make your own self-rising flour with the recipe below.
- Homemade self-rising flour: Whisk together 1.5 cups all purpose flour, 2 and 1/4 tsp baking powder and 3/8 tsp salt. Measure out 1 1/4 cups for the recipe. Do not use the full amount. Make sure your all purpose flour has a regular amount of protein (3 grams per 1/4 cup). Most brands in the US contain this amount but there are some brands with higher protein (4 grams per 1/4 cup) such as King Arthur Flour and Bob's Red Mill. You do not want a high protein flour for these donuts. It will make the dough dry and the donuts will be dense and bready.
- Optional Cinnamon sugar coating: If you want to roll the donuts in sugar or cinnamon sugar, add about 1/4 cup sugar or cinnamon sugar to a large ziploc bag. Add a few of the donuts and then seal the bag and shake until the donuts are coated. Repeat with remaining donuts.
- If you don't have an air fryer you can fry these donuts in oil. You can also bake them but we found the baked version to be more dense so we don't recommend it.
- Estimated nutrition does not include optional cinnamon sugar coating.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
