These easy Air Fryer Donuts are flakey and delicious baked dough that are dipped into a rich, thick chocolate glaze and covered in sprinkles. By using store-bought biscuit dough plus a few more ingredients and an air fryer, you can easily make your own donuts!

Easy air fryer recipes are our favorite recipes! If you are looking for more delicious recipes to make in our favorite kitchen appliance, try this Air Fryer Peach Cobbler, it makes the perfect dessert! Or Air Fryer Cinnamon Honey Peaches, made with fresh peaches, it’s healthy and tasty.

Up close of a baking sheet of air fried and chocolate glazed donuts with sprinkles.

Gooey Chocolate Frosted Biscuit Donuts

Have you ever wanted to make donuts at home, but don’t want your house to smell like grease or mess with hot oil?

And donuts are delicious when they are baked, but baking them requires you to have a special pan.

With the air fryer, you don’t even need a donut pan, donut hole cutter, or a time consuming dough. You can easily make donuts in the air fryer with seriously just a handful of delicious ingredients.

These donuts are baked until they puff up and turn a golden brown. That’s when the fun part comes in, the glazing! Simply dip the top half of the donut into the thick chocolate frosting, let excess drip off and add sprinkles (or just eat them glazed still good!).

Above view of a tray of donuts with a striped towel.

Of course, we had to include multiple donut topping options. You get to be creative and decorate and flavor them just how you like them. Just check out all of the flavors below!

You are going to be snacking on delicious donuts in no time! Let’s grab the ingredients and get air frying.

What are Biscuit Donuts?

Also known as biscuit doughnuts, these flakey bakery treats are created by using a store-bought can of biscuits. They are baked to golden perfection in the air fryer, so no excess oil is added. They aren’t exactly homemade donuts, but will do in a pinch.

The small holes made in the center of each biscuit can easily be made with a bottle cap instead of a donut cutter. And you can make air fryer donut holes by adding those dough centers to the air fryer, too! The cooking time is less, so just pop them in by themselves and cook for just a minute or two until browned.

Recipe Ingredients

Here are the basic ingredients to make this air fryer donut recipe. Check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full ingredient amounts.

Canned Biscuit Dough: You can find canned biscuits at the grocery store. There are normally 8 in a can, so this will make 8 donuts.
Sprinkles: These are optional.
Cocoa Powder: This gives the frosting that rich chocolate flavor, use unsweetened cocoa powder.
Confectioner’s Sugar: Powdered sugar is the sweetener in the frosting.
Butter: You want to use unsalted butter for this recipe.
Milk: You can use anything from heavy cream to non fat milk and even non dairy milk.
Corn Syrup: This will give the frosting that pretty shine. It is optional.
Vanilla Extract: Use real vanilla extract and not imitation vanilla flavor.

All of the ingredients to make biscuit donuts and the chocolate frosting.

How to Make Air Fryer Biscuit Donuts

Make homemade donuts with these easy steps, just check out the recipe card below for full instructions.

STEP 1: Open the can of biscuits and space them out on a large cutting board or baking sheet.

STEP 2: With a 1-inch biscuit cutter, cap of a water bottle, or the big end of a piping tip, cut the center out of every biscuit.

STEP 3: Place four dough biscuits into the air fryer, cook until lightly browned and puffed up. Pull out cooked donuts and add the last four biscuits. Then cook donut holes.

The first four steps to make donuts in an air fryer.

STEP 4: While doughnuts are cooking, make the chocolate frosting. Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa into a medium bowl. Mix in the melted butter, milk, corn syrup, and vanilla extract.

STEP 5: Let cooked donuts cool down to room temperature, then dip the top half into the frosting. Let the excess frosting drip off. Top with sprinkles and eat immediately.

The last two steps to make biscuit donuts and the chocolate glaze.

More Topping Ideas to Love

I can tell you from experience that it is a lot of fun to experiment with different flavors to use on air fried donuts. Here are some of the ones we love and how to make them. Let us know in the comments below if you have a flavor you love.

Cinnamon Sugar Donuts. In a shallow bowl, mix together 1/2 cup white sugar with 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. Brush cooked donuts with 1/4 cup of melted butter. Immediately sprinkle or roll donuts in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Powdered Sugar Donuts. Brush donuts with 1/4 cup of melted butter, sprinkle or roll them in powdered sugar.
Vanilla simple glaze. In a small bowl, mix together 2 cups powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons milk, 1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Tips for Success

Single layer. Keep donuts in a single layer and make sure they are not touching when you add them to the air fryer basket.
Drip off glaze. After dipping the top half of the baked donuts in the chocolate frosting, make sure to drip off any excess.
Thin or thick glaze. Add a little more milk to make chocolate glaze thinner and more powdered sugar to thicken it back up.
Fix biscuit dough. If you have any smushed biscuits, just reshape them to give them a more donut shape.

Recipe Variations

Use your own homemade biscuit dough, not as easy as using premade biscuit dough, but still good.
With a pastry brush, brush on a little melted butter to each doughy biscuit after adding them in the air fryer. This will make them even more buttery.
Use different toppings and glazes.

Up close of a donut with a bite missing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What to use to cut the doughnut hole? So, if you have a stack of different sized biscuit cutters there may be a small biscuit cutter that is 1″ in diameter. That is the perfect size to make the hole in the center of the biscuit dough. If you don’t have one you can use a soda or water bottle cap or even a large frosting tip to make the hole.

What are the best biscuits to use? I usually use Pillsbury Grands biscuits with flaky layers, but you can experiment with any brand or type.

Can you air fry donuts instead of deep frying them? Yes, you can air fry biscuit donuts right in the air fryer, no deep fryer needed.

Do air fried biscuit donuts taste like real donuts? They don’t taste exactly like a traditional donut you would get from the donut shop.

Do I need additional cooking spray? No, olive oil spray is not needed for this recipe. The biscuits will brown on their own and won’t stick to the air fryer.

How to Store & Reheat Leftover Donuts

How to store them? Let any leftover donuts cool and then place them into an airtight container. They should last about 2-3 days in the fridge, but the texture may be affected and won’t be as good as when they were fresh. They may be okay to sit out on the counter at room temp for 1 day.

How do you reheat cold donuts? If you heat glazed donuts, the frosting will melt off. Set cold frosted donuts out on the counter until they reach room temperature.

Or add frosting only to the donuts that you are going to eat then you can heat the cold unfrosted donuts in the air fryer at 350 degrees f until heated through. Then frost with any leftover frosting.

Can I Freeze Air Fryer Donuts?

How to freeze it? Let any leftover donuts cool and put on a baking sheet. Place in the freezer for 1-2 hours. Then place them into an airtight container. Donuts can be frozen for 2-3 months, just be sure to label with the recipe and date.

How to thaw it? Thaw frozen air fried donuts on a plate in the refrigerator overnight until defrosted.

Up close of a baking sheet of cooked and chocolate glazed donuts with sprinkles.

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