Craving delicious donuts in the morning? Make easy air fryer donuts in under 5 minutes! Your family will love this quick and yummy donut recipe! Air fryer donuts using canned biscuits is perfect recipe for a fun family breakfast treat.

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Easy Air Fryer Donuts Under 5 Minutes

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How To Make Homemade Donuts (With Cereal Toppings & Homemade Glaze!)

I have a confession: I have never made donuts at home!

I remember in high school in a home-ec class deep frying donuts. That was the one and only time I can remember making donuts!

My kids LOVE donuts and I have a glazed donut weakness! During the school year we had a Friday morning ritual to stop by the donut shop on the way to school for a special treat.

I always thought of making donuts at home as a long and messy task, but Bryan recently told me he used to make donuts growing up that were made SUPER fast.

The trick? Canned biscuits!

You can make donuts using the canned biscuit dough from the store. Mind blown!

And you know what makes them even faster and simpler?

Making donuts in the air fryer!

Simply pop open the refrigerated canned biscuits, cut a hole in the middle of each biscuit dough (with a donut cutter if you have one, or simply use a bottle cap or shot glass). Place the donut-shaped biscuits in the air fryer for 4 minutes at 350 degrees. Take them out and add your topping of choice and voila! 5 minute air fryer donuts are done!

Our kids gobbled up these easy air fryer donuts and were asking for more. Follow our step by step air fryer donut recipe for a yummy family breakfast idea at home!

Scroll down for my step my step instructions and find my printable recipe card towards the bottom of the page.

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How to Make Air Fryer Donuts?

Because this is my first time making donuts with biscuit dough in the air fryer, I bought several canned biscuit options to test which made the best donuts. These are the biscuits we tested and feedback from our kiddos:

Grands Flaky Layers Original Biscuits — too flaky, icing and toppings don’t stay on as well
Off Brand Smaller Size Canned Biscuits — too thin and small, donuts came out more crispy and not soft
Grands Southern Homestyle Original Biscuits — The winner! Fluffy and soft and no flaky layers

Open your canned biscuit dough and place biscuits on a cooking sheet. Make a hole in each biscuit using a donut cutter, bottle cap or shot glass.

Add biscuits to air fryer and cook for 4 minutes at 350 degrees. Each air fryer may vary in temperature and cook times, we used our new Ninja Foodi Air Fry Oven.

If you also cook the donut holes, I add these to the air fryer separately and cook for 3 minutes at 350 degrees.

Place cooked donuts and donut holes on a cooling rack on top of a cooking sheet or Silpat baking mat.

For powdered sugar topping:

Lightly brush the donuts with melted butter, and then dip the donuts and donut holesin powdered sugar.

For Strawberry or Chocolate Icing with Sprinkles Topping:

I was going for a SUPER fast breakfast, so I used store bought strawberry icing and chocolate icing! You can also make your own handmade icing if you prefer.

Gently smooth icing on top half of donuts. Add your favorite sprinkles ( we use these and these fun sprinkles!)

Other Donut Topping Ideas:

Homemade Glaze: Mix together 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/3 cup whole milk and 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract in a bowl. Immediately after taking donuts out of air fryer, dip donuts in glaze and place on cooling rack to drip and cool.

Cinnamon Sugar: Mix together 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons cinnamon in a bowl. Immediately after taking donuts out of air fryer, dip donuts in cinnamon sugar mixture and place on cooling rack to drip and cool.

Fun Family Breakfast Idea: Air Fryer Donuts

I hope your family enjoys donuts in under 5 minutes recipe! Easy air fryer donuts are a great family breakfast idea or yummy afternoon treat!

8 donuts

Easy Air Fryer Donuts Under 5 Minutes

Name: Easy Air Fryer Donuts Under 5 Minutes
Cook time: 4 min
Total time: 4 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: store bought icing; colorful sprinkles; 2 cups powdered sugar; 1/3 cup whole milk or heavy cream; 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 2 TBSP cinnamon; 1/2 cup granulated sugar; 1/4 cup butter, melted; 1/2 cup powdered sugar; Canned Biscuits (We use the Grands!™ Southern Homestyle Original Biscuits and they worked best!)

Cook Time: 4 minutes

Total Time: 4 minutes

Ingredients

Canned Biscuits (We use the Grands!™ Southern Homestyle Original Biscuits and they worked best!)

Powdered Sugar:

1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Cinnamon Sugar:

2 TBSP cinnamon
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Homemade Glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup whole milk or heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Strawberry and Chocolate Icing with Sprinkles:

store bought icing
colorful sprinkles

Instructions

Open your canned biscuit dough and place biscuits on a cooking sheet. Make a hole in each biscuit using a donut cutter, bottle cap or shot glass.
Add biscuits to air fryer and cook for 4 minutes at 350 degrees. Each air fryer may vary in temperature and cook times, we used a Ninja Foodi Air Fry Oven.
If you also cook the donut holes, I add these to the air fryer separately and cook for 3 minutes at 350 degrees.
Place cooked donuts and donut holes on a cooling rack on top of a cooking sheet or Silpat baking mat.

For powdered sugar topping:

Lightly brush the donuts with melted butter, and then dip the donuts and donut holes in powdered sugar.

For Strawberry or Chocolate Icing with Sprinkles Topping:

I was going for a SUPER fast breakfast, so I used store bought strawberry icing and chocolate icing! You can also make your own handmade icing if you prefer.
Gently smooth icing on top half of donuts. Add your favorite sprinkles ( we use these and these fun sprinkles!)

Notes

Tips, Tricks and Helpful Suggestions:

1. We tried several canned biscuit brands and types. The Grands!™ Flaky Layers Original Biscuits were way too flaky, and it was hard to add toppings without it flaking into pieces. We also tried the off-brand biscuits that are smaller in size, and they come out too thin. The best canned biscuits were the Grands!™ Southern Homestyle Original Biscuits.

2. You can use a donut cutter to cut the biscuit dough, or the bottom of a shot glass works well too!

3. The air fryer donut holes didn't taste as good to us as the actual donuts - I think donut holes taste the BEST when made with homemade dough and fried. But our kids still ate them and loved them!

Other Donut Topping Ideas:

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 359Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 221mgCarbohydrates: 63gFiber: 1gSugar: 51gProtein: 2g