Cinnamon Sugar Air Fryer Biscuit Donuts (That Don’t Taste Like Biscuits)

I’ll be honest about the thing everyone wonders before making these: will biscuit donuts just taste like sweet biscuits? I wondered the same the first time I tried them, and the first batch I ever made — years ago, straight out of the can with a sugar dusting — absolutely did. They were fine. They were not donuts.

So I kept tinkering, and after more cans of Pillsbury Grands than I’d like to admit, I landed on the two steps that make all the difference: a butter bath before the donuts ever hit the air fryer, and a double roll in cinnamon sugar while they’re still hot. That’s it. Do those two things and you get a fluffy, golden ring with a crackly cinnamon crust that tastes like it came out of a bakery case — not a biscuit can. Nobody at my table can tell anymore, and a few have flat-out refused to believe these start as canned biscuits.

The best part: four ingredients, about five minutes of hands-on time, no yeast, no rising, and no vat of hot oil. If you’ve fallen down the air fryer donut rabbit hole like I have, this is the recipe I send people to first. And because I originally developed this in my Instant Pot Vortex Plus, you’ll find the exact Vortex settings below — plus a chart for every other model.

Why You’ll Love These Air Fryer Biscuit Donuts

• A great one to make with kids — punching the holes is their favorite part.
• They genuinely taste like donuts, not biscuits — the butter bath is the whole secret.
• About 5 minutes of active time, start to plate in 15.
• Just 4 ingredients you probably already have.
• No deep frying — no oil splatter, no mess, no grease smell in the house.
• No yeast, no rising, no donut pan.
• Works in any air fryer — I’ll give you Instant Vortex, Ninja Foodi, Cosori, and Philips numbers below.

Ingredients

• Refrigerated biscuit dough. I reach for Pillsbury Grands Flaky Layers, but Buttermilk Grands work beautifully too (more on the difference in the FAQ). Use the big jumbo biscuits — the small regular ones cook too fast and turn out thin.
• Unsalted butter, melted. This is non-negotiable, and you dip the dough before frying — not after, the way most recipes tell you. That’s the difference-maker.
• Granulated sugar. The base of the crackly coating. I keep turbinado on hand for when I want extra crunch.
• Ground cinnamon. Warm, classic donut-shop flavor. A reader once used double the cinnamon and said it was a little intense — start with the amount below and adjust to your family.

Equipment

• Air fryer (basket or oven style — any model)
• A 1-inch round cutter, a clean bottle cap, or a large frosting tip (I use a frosting tip — the holes come out perfectly round)
• Two shallow bowls (one for butter, one for cinnamon sugar)
• A cooling rack

How to Make Cinnamon Sugar Air Fryer Biscuit Donuts

Step 1 — Preheat. Set the air fryer to 360°F and let it preheat 2–3 minutes. I skipped this exactly once and got pale, sad donuts — don’t skip it. A hot basket gives you that golden puff from the first second.

Step 2 — Cut the biscuits. Separate the biscuits and punch a hole in the center of each. Save the centers — those become donut holes, and honestly the donut holes might be my favorite part. One can = 8 donuts + 8 holes.

Step 3 — The butter bath (the secret step). Pour the melted butter into a shallow bowl and dip both sides of each raw donut, letting the excess drip off. Coating the dough before it cooks lets the butter crisp into the surface, building a real donut-like shell instead of a bread-y biscuit one.

Step 4 — Air fry the donuts. Lightly spray the basket. Lay 3–4 donuts in a single layer, not touching. Air fry at 360°F for 4–5 minutes, flip, then 3–4 minutes more until golden and puffed. Work in batches. My first batch always takes the full time; the second runs about a minute faster because the basket’s already hot.

Step 5 — Air fry the holes. Add the donut holes and air fry at 360°F for 3–4 minutes, flipping once.

Step 6 — Mix the cinnamon sugar. While the donuts cook, stir the sugar and cinnamon together in a shallow bowl.

Step 7 — Double-coat while hot. As each donut comes out, roll it in the cinnamon sugar right away, then roll it a second time while it’s still warm. One pass is a dusting; two passes is that thick, crackly crust. The coating won’t stick once they cool, so move quickly.

Step 8 — Serve warm. These don’t last ten minutes in my kitchen, but if you’re plating them up, coffee or warm apple cider is the move.

The Secret: Why These Don’t Taste Like Biscuits

This is the question the recipe is named for, so here’s the straight answer from someone who’s gotten it wrong plenty of times. Plain biscuit dough, air fried and sugared, tastes like a sweet biscuit — soft, a little flat, a little bready. Three things turn it into a donut:

• The butter dip before frying. Most recipes (including the ones ranking above this one) brush butter on after cooking. Dipping the raw dough first is what builds the crisp, rich, donut-like shell in the air fryer. This single change does about 80% of the work.
• The double cinnamon sugar coat, while hot. Two passes build a genuine sugary crust that crackles. One pass just dusts.
• Pull them golden, not dark. Overbaked biscuit dough goes dense and chewy and starts tasting bread-y again. Golden and puffed is the target — I check at the 4-minute mark every single time.

Nail those three and I promise nobody guesses these came from a can.

Instant Pot Vortex Plus Settings (Plus Every Other Air Fryer)

I developed this in the Instant Pot Vortex Plus, so here’s exactly what I do: select AIR FRY, set 360°F, preheat 3 minutes, then run the donuts 4–5 minutes per side and the holes 3–4 minutes total. I use the Vortex’s “turn food” reminder as my flip cue. (If you do a lot of Vortex cooking, my whole Instant Pot recipe collection lives here.)

Cooking in something else? Every air fryer runs a little differently, so check the first batch early. Here’s my starting-point chart:

Air Fryer Model	Temperature	Donut Time	Donut Holes
Instant Vortex / Vortex Plus	360°F	4–5 min/side	3–4 min
Ninja Foodi	360°F	4–5 min/side	3 min
Cosori	360°F	4 min/side	3 min
Philips	360°F	5 min/side	3–4 min
PowerXL / Gourmia	360°F	4–5 min/side	3 min

For more model-by-model timing, my full air fryer recipe hub has charts for just about everything.

My Best Tips (Learned the Hard Way)

• Use jumbo Grands biscuits, not the small ones. Thin biscuits overcook and dry out before they puff.
• Don’t skip the preheat. See: my one batch of pale donuts.
• Give them room. Crowding the basket steams instead of crisps — you’ll get soft, pale donuts.
• Use olive or coconut oil spray, never aerosol Pam-type sprays. The soy lecithin in those can pit and damage nonstick baskets over time. I learned this after wrecking one basket.
• Roll while hot. The cinnamon sugar simply won’t cling to a cooled donut.
• Want bakery crunch? Swap granulated sugar for turbinado (raw) sugar in the coating.

Variations to Try

Once you’ve got the base down, this recipe is a launchpad:

• Powdered sugar donuts — skip the cinnamon sugar and roll warm donuts in sifted powdered sugar, like my air fryer powdered sugar donuts.
• Glazed donuts — finish with a simple sugar glaze; here’s my glazed biscuit donut method.
• Chocolate glazed — dip them in chocolate the way I do for my chocolate glazed donuts.
• Pumpkin spice donuts — swap the cinnamon for 1½ tsp pumpkin pie spice.
• Apple cinnamon — add ½ tsp apple pie spice and serve with warm cider. (For a stuffed version, try my air fryer apple pie bombs.)
• Pull-apart style — turn them into cinnamon sugar pull-apart donuts for a crowd.

Still hungry? I’ve got a whole collection of air fryer donut recipes — including banana donuts, funfetti cake mix donuts, and a copycat Krispy Kreme.

How to Store and Reheat

• Room temperature: airtight container up to 2 days. The coating softens a little — totally normal.
• Fridge: up to 4 days; bring to room temp or reheat before serving.
• Reheat: air fryer at 300°F for 2–3 minutes, then re-roll in a little fresh cinnamon sugar to wake them back up. This trick is the difference between day-two donuts being good and being sad.
• Freeze: freeze the donuts uncoated up to 2 months; thaw, reheat, then coat.

These really are best the minute they’re made, though — I’ve never once had leftovers worth storing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do air fryer biscuit donuts taste like biscuits? Not if you do two things: dip the raw dough in melted butter before air frying, and roll the hot donuts in cinnamon sugar twice. The butter builds a crisp, donut-like shell and the double coat creates a real sugary crust. Skip those and yes — they’ll taste like sweet biscuits.

What are the Instant Vortex settings for donuts? Select Air Fry, set 360°F, preheat 3 minutes, then cook the donuts 4–5 minutes per side and the holes 3–4 minutes total. Check the first batch at 4 minutes.

What’s the best biscuit brand? I use Pillsbury Grands — Flaky Layers for a lighter, pull-apart donut, or Buttermilk for a denser, chewier one. Store-brand jumbo biscuits work too. Avoid the small/regular biscuits; they cook too fast.

How many donuts does one can make? One 16.3 oz can of Grands makes 8 donuts plus 8 donut holes — 16 treats.

Can I make them without cutting a hole? Yes. Air fry the whole biscuit, then slice and fill it with jam, Nutella, or cream for a filled donut.

Why are my donuts pale instead of golden? Almost always an overcrowded basket, a skipped preheat, or too low a temperature. Space them out, preheat to 360°F, and cook in batches.

Can I reheat them in the air fryer? Yes — 300°F for 2–3 minutes refreshes them without making them soggy, then re-roll in a little cinnamon sugar.

Can I use crescent roll dough instead? You can, but it’s thinner and more delicate — shape into rings and check at the 3-minute mark.

Are air fryer donuts healthier than fried donuts? They’re air fried rather than deep fried, so they use far less oil — lighter than a traditional donut, but still a treat Instagram — we love seeing your creations!

More Easy Air Fryer Recipes You’ll Love

• Easy Air Fryer Biscuit Donut Holes
• Air Fryer Cinnamon Roll Bites
• Air Fryer Cinnamon Toast Crunch Donuts
• Air Fryer Raspberry Lemon Donuts
• Browse all my air fryer breakfast recipes

Made these cinnamon sugar air fryer biscuit donuts? I’d love to know how they turned out — leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and a quick comment below telling me which air fryer you used and your timing. It genuinely helps other readers dial in their machine (and it helps me know what to make next!). Tag @forktospoon on Instagram so I can see your donuts.