7 of the Best Treats to Make in Your Air Fryer, According to Chefs and Bakers

• Business Insider asked chefs, bakers, and food writers about their favorite air fryer desserts.

• They suggested using the device to quickly make chocolate chip cookies and brownies.

• More complex desserts, like apple pie and cannoli shells, are also easy to make in an air fryer.

Air fryers are known for their ability to give savory foods a satisfying crunch without excess oil, but this trendy appliance is also capable of making quick and easy desserts.

Business Insider spoke with professional chefs, bakers, and food writers to share their favorite classic desserts to make in the countertop appliance.

Here are some treats you probably didn’t know you can make in an air fryer.

Brownies are a quick and easy air fryer dessert

Chris Riley, the chef and founder of The Darling Kitchen, told BI that you can use an air fryer to make perfectly tender brownies.

“The air fryer is perfect for making a small batch of brownies without heating up the whole house with the oven,” he said.

Most air fryers are smaller than traditional ovens, so to make sure you don’t end up with leftover mixture, Riley suggested splitting your recipe in half or baking your dough in several smaller batches.

You can make apple pie in record time

Air fryers are a great shortcut for making little fruit pies.

“This classic dessert can easily be made in an air fryer without having to turn on the oven. If you use a ready-made apple crust, you can make this delicious treat in less than half an hour,” Riley told BI.

To reduce the chance of your pie bubbling, let the apple slices sit in a bowl for 30 minutes and drain excess liquid before adding them to your pie crust.

Nutella Rolls are a Deliciously Easy Treat

Chef and author Maria Liberati told BI that you can use store-bought hazelnut spread and pastry dough to create a quick and tasty dessert in the air fryer.

“Spread Nutella between two strips of puff pastry, brush the top strip with milk and brown sugar, roll it up, then bake in the air fryer for five minutes at 400 degrees,” she said.

If you are using a large sheet of pre-made pastry dough, be sure to cut an even number of strips so that each roll has a top and bottom layer.

Chocolate Chip Cookies Are One of the Quickest Air Fryer Desserts

Chocolate chip cookies are another classic dessert that you can easily make in an air fryer.

“Chocolate chip cookies cook in about five minutes in the air fryer,” Riley told BI. “They get perfectly crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside.”

If you want to save even more time, use store-bought dough or make a large batch in advance and bake individual cookies as needed.

Air fryers are great for making homemade cannoli shells

Cannoli are Italian pastries made by filling tubes of fried puff pastry with sweetened ricotta cream. Riley said the shells are easy to make in an air fryer.

“You can make cannoli shells in an air fryer with a lot less work than usual using store-bought pie dough,” he told BI. “No one will suspect that this exquisite dessert came straight from your fryer.”

If you don’t have cannoli tubes, you can wrap your pastry dough around sturdy aluminum foil in the shape of cylinders.

You Can Shorten Banana Bread Baking Time

Jessica Randhawa, chef and author of The Forked Spoon, told BI that an air fryer is a great way to get banana bread that’s perfectly soft on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

“Making banana bread is easy in an air fryer and the quick cooking time means it can be enjoyed with your morning coffee, as an afternoon snack or as a late night dessert,” a- she declared.

Use mini cake pans or Bundt pans to cook individual servings of banana bread in the air fryer, and be sure to adjust your recipe and cooking time accordingly.

Oatmeal Cookies are Easy and Perfectly Soft

The dense, chewy texture of oatmeal cookies pairs perfectly with the crisping capabilities of an air fryer.

“Oatmeal cookies cook really well in an air fryer,” Randhawa said. “They’re soft but chewy and are even better when loaded with gooey chocolate chips and spices.”

This story was originally published in November 2020 and last updated on November 20, 2024.

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