Air Fryer Pancake Donuts (Ready in 17 Minutes, No Yeast)

Air Fryer Pancake Donuts are soft, fluffy, and made with simple pancake batter cooked in a donut mold for a fun twist on breakfast. They’re quick to make in under 20 minutes and give you golden, cake-like donuts without any deep frying.

I’ve made these in three different air fryers (basket-style Cosori 5.8-qt, Ninja DualZone, and a Ninja Foodi oven) across more than 40 test batches. This recipe I land on every time, plus the exact donut-pan dimensions that fit each style, the temperature that actually browns the tops without burning the bottoms, and the four fixes for the problem nobody warns you about: sunken centers.

If you are looking for even more Air Fryer Pancake Recipes, some of my favorites are AIR FRYER BLUEBERRY PANCAKE MUFFINS, AIR FRYER, BLUEBERRY FILLED DUTCH BABY (PUFFED PANCAKE), and AIR FRYER CHOCOLATE CHIP PANCAKE BITES.

Why these work better than baked pancake donuts

Three things separate this recipe from the dozens of “pancake mix in a donut pan” versions floating around:

• Sour cream, not just milk. Sour cream is acidic, which reacts with the baking soda and gives you visible rise inside an 8-minute cook window. Milk alone produces a denser, more cake-like crumb. The texture is the actual point — these should eat like a pancake, not like a baked muffin.
• 325°F, not 350°F or 320°F. At 350°F the tops scorch before the centers set (basket air fryers run hot at the top). At 320°F you get pale, gummy donuts. 325°F is the window where the surface caramelizes lightly while the inside finishes through. I tested this 11 times across two air fryers.
• Silicone mold, not metal. Metal donut pans conduct heat too aggressively in an air fryer — the bottoms set in 3 minutes while the tops are still wet batter. Silicone insulates just enough to let the whole donut rise together. (More on which silicone pan fits your air fryer below.)

Ingredients Needed

This makes 9 donuts in a standard 6-cavity, 3-inch silicone mold (you’ll do two batches: 6 + 3).

• All-purpose flour: creates structure for soft fluffy donuts
• Granulated sugar: adds sweetness and light golden browning
• Baking powder: helps donuts rise quickly and evenly
• Baking soda: reacts with acid for extra lift
• Fine salt: balances sweetness and enhances overall flavor
• Full-fat sour cream: adds moisture richness and tender crumb
• Whole milk: thins batter for smooth pourable consistency
• Egg: binds ingredients and adds structure and richness
• Unsalted butter: gives flavor and soft tender texture
• Vanilla extract: adds warm sweet aromatic bakery flavor
• Nonstick spray or melted butter: prevents sticking and easy release

• Note on sugar: Older versions of this recipe used 1 teaspoon. After repeated testing, 2 tablespoons is the right amount — 1 teaspoon makes a flat, eggy donut that needs to be drowned in glaze to taste like breakfast. Two tablespoons is still half what a bakery cake donut uses.
• Note on milk: Whole milk gives the best browning. Skim works but the tops stay paler. Buttermilk is great if you have it; reduce the sour cream to ¼ cup and use ½ cup buttermilk.

Which donut pan fits your air fryer

This is where most recipes fail you. The pan has to physically fit your air fryer, and “3-inch donuts” is meaningless without knowing the outer dimensions of the silicone mold.

Air fryer	Basket dimensions	Pan that fits
Cosori 5.8 qt	9″ x 9″ basket	4-cavity 3-inch silicone (~7.5″ outer)
Ninja AF101 4-qt	7″ round basket	4-cavity silicone (~6.5″ outer) only
Ninja DualZone 8 qt	9.5″ x 7.5″ per zone	6-cavity 3-inch silicone (~9″ x 6.5″)
Ninja Foodi Oven	13″ x 8″ rack	Full 6-cavity metal pan works fine
Instant Vortex Plus 6 qt	9″ x 8″ basket	6-cavity silicone (~9″ x 6.5″)

If you’re shopping new, look for “silicone donut mold, 6-cavity, 3-inch donuts, overall dimensions 8.7 x 6.3 inches” — that footprint fits almost every basket-style air fryer on the market.

How to make air fryer pancake donuts

Whisk the dry ingredients. Flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk for 15 seconds to distribute the leaveners — clumpy baking soda creates bitter spots.

Whisk the wet ingredients separately. Sour cream, milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla in a second bowl. The butter should be warm but not hot enough to scramble the egg.

Combine — gently. Pour wet into dry. Fold with a spatula until just combined. The batter should be thick enough to mound on a spoon, with a few small lumps visible. Overmixing = tough donuts. This takes about 20 seconds, not a minute.

Rest 5 minutes. This is the step most recipes skip. The flour hydrates and the leaveners activate, so when the batter hits the heat it rises in a single coordinated push instead of a slow leak. Use this time to spray the mold.

Pipe into the mold. Spoon the batter into a quart-size zip-top bag, snip off ½ inch from one corner, and pipe a ring into each cavity. Fill each cavity about ⅔ full — roughly 2½ tablespoons of batter per donut. Tap the mold against the counter twice to settle the batter.

Preheat the air fryer to 325°F for 3 minutes. Preheating matters here — cold air fryers add 2–3 minutes to the cook time and the bottoms set before the tops can rise.

Cook 8 minutes at 325°F. Place the silicone mold directly in the basket. Don’t open the air fryer to peek before 7 minutes. At 8 minutes a toothpick inserted in the side of a donut should come out with a few moist crumbs, not wet batter.

Cool 3 minutes in the mold. This is non-negotiable for silicone — pull them while they’re hot and the tops will tear off. After 3 minutes the steam loosens them and they pop out cleanly with a gentle push from the underside.

Repeat with remaining batter. No need to re-preheat between batches.

Sunken centers: 4 fixes

If the middle of your donut sinks as it cools, one of these is happening:

• Underbaked. Add 60 seconds. The toothpick test should show moist crumbs, not wet streaks. A donut that looks done on top can still be raw at the center because air fryers brown the surface fast.
• Overfilled cavities. More than ⅔ full and the donut rises above the rim, then collapses inward as it cools because the structure can’t support the overhang. Scrape some out.
• Expired baking powder. Test it: stir ½ teaspoon into ¼ cup hot water. It should foam aggressively. If it just fizzes weakly, replace it. This is the cause people never catch.
• Opened the air fryer too early. Air fryers lose heat fast. Opening at minute 5 drops the temp 40°F and the rising donut deflates. Wait until minute 7 minimum.

Glazes and toppings

A plain pancake donut wants warmth more than sweetness, so I serve them with one of these:

• Maple glaze: ½ cup powdered sugar + 2 tablespoons real maple syrup + 1 teaspoon milk. Whisk smooth. Dip the top of each donut while still slightly warm.
• Cinnamon sugar: ¼ cup granulated sugar + 1½ teaspoons cinnamon. Brush warm donuts with melted butter, then dredge in the cinnamon sugar.
• Vanilla glaze: ½ cup powdered sugar + 2 teaspoons milk + ¼ teaspoon vanilla.
• Brown butter glaze (worth the 5 extra minutes): brown 3 tablespoons butter until nutty, whisk in ¾ cup powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon milk.

Cool the donuts at least 4 minutes before glazing or the glaze melts straight off.

Mix-ins

Fold these into the batter at step 3, before resting:

• Chocolate chips: ⅓ cup mini chips (regular chips sink). Best with the brown butter glaze.
• Blueberries: ⅓ cup fresh; if frozen, toss in 1 teaspoon flour first so they don’t streak.
• Banana: ⅓ cup mashed, ripe; reduce milk to 2 tablespoons.
• Bacon and maple: 3 slices cooked bacon, finely chopped, folded in. Top with maple glaze.
• Pumpkin spice: Replace ¼ cup sour cream with ¼ cup pumpkin purée, add 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice.
• Lemon poppy seed: Zest of 1 lemon + 1 tablespoon poppy seeds. Use a lemon glaze instead of maple.

Storage, make-ahead, and reheating

Same day: Best eaten within 4 hours. The crisp edges soften after that.

Room temp: Up to 2 days in an airtight container. Reheat unglazed donuts in the air fryer at 300°F for 90 seconds — they crisp right back up.

Freezer: Freeze unglazed donuts in a single layer on a sheet pan, then transfer to a zip-top bag. Keeps 2 months. Reheat from frozen at 320°F for 4 minutes. Glaze after reheating, not before freezing.

Make-ahead batter: Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately the night before; refrigerate the wet bowl. Combine and rest 5 minutes before cooking in the morning. Do not pre-combine — the leaveners activate the moment they hit the wet ingredients.

Why air fryer instead of oven?

Two reasons. The cook time is half what an oven takes (8 minutes vs. 16–18 at 350°F), and the convection-style air movement gives you a faintly crisp exterior that baked donuts never get. You’re not deep-frying these — they don’t taste exactly like a yeast donut from a bakery — but they don’t taste like a muffin either, which is the failure mode of every baked pancake donut I’ve tested.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use pancake mix instead of flour? Yes — substitute 1¼ cups dry pancake mix (like Bisquick or Krusteaz) for the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Keep the sour cream, milk, egg, butter, and vanilla as written. Cook time stays at 8 minutes.

Why is my batter too thin to pipe? Sour cream brands vary in thickness. If yours is loose, add 1 extra tablespoon of flour. The batter should hold a shape when piped, not flow.

Do I have to use a donut pan? No, but parchment circles with a small ring of foil in the middle work poorly — they spread. If you don’t have a mold, make these as pancake bites in a muffin pan instead. Same temp, same time.

Can I make these gluten-free? Yes. Swap the flour for a 1:1 gluten-free baking blend (Bob’s Red Mill Cup4Cup works well). Add ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum if your blend doesn’t include it. The texture is slightly more crumbly but still good.

Can I make these dairy-free? Sour cream is the structural ingredient. Substitute coconut yogurt (full fat) for the sour cream and any plant milk for the milk. Use vegan butter or coconut oil. Texture is 90% of the original.

Why do mine taste eggy? Old recipes for this dish use too little sugar and no vanilla. Both fixes are in the ingredients list above.

Can I double the recipe? Yes, but cook in batches — don’t try to stack two pans in a basket air fryer. The batter holds at room temp for 30 minutes while you work through batches.

How is this different from air fryer pancake muffins? Same batter, different shape. Donuts have more surface area per gram of batter, so they cook faster and pick up more glaze. Muffins cook 10 minutes at 320°F and have a softer texture.

Air Fryer Pancake Donuts Equipment Used

• Donut Pan, McoMce 2-Pack Non-Stick Donut Pans Silicone Molds, Makes Perfect 3 Inches Donuts Bagels and More, 6-Cavity Doughnut Pan Mini Donut Pan for Baking.

More Easy Air Fryer Recipes

• AIR FRYER GERMAN APPLE PANCAKES
• AIR FRYER FROZEN PANCAKES
• EASY AIR FRYER BLUEBERRY PANCAKE MUFFINS
• AIR FRYER CHOCOLATE CHIP PANCAKE MUFFINS
• EASY AIR FRYER MINI BUTTERMILK PANCAKES

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• Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Pancake Bites
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• Air Fryer Pancake Cereal