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Being a busy Mum of two means I am ALWAYS looking for some more sweet treats to make, ideally to both save money on food shopping and to make my little ones happy with their snacks too! Air fryer cookies are pretty simple, in terms of baking, and best of all your little ones can help you mix the dough too if you like, just to waste away a few more minutes of the day.
Having plenty of snacks on hand is my secret when it comes to keeping happy children AND always being ready for guests! I have lots of fun recipes I love to make with little ones, such as honeycomb or salted caramel sauce, which look impressive but are actually really simple, fast and cheap.
You CAN use ready made dough, if you like, or you can follow one of your favourite cookie recipes, I love making these midnight cookies, and then just cook them in the air fryer. I love making air fryer recipes as they are usually a great way to save time and effort, as I don’t have to keep peering through the oven door and can just open the air fryer basket up on my worktop.
When you’re super busy making air fryer cookies can be a great way to have something delicious to hand, such as Christmas cookies, without spending hours with the hot oven on!
Be sure to check out some of my other air fryer desserts.
Scroll down towards the end of this post for my air fryer cookies recipe card so you can get started with making this delicious treat right away!
Ingredients for air fryer cookies:
Cookie dough recipe:
135g salted butter
70g light brown sugar
70g sugar
10ml vanilla extract
1 egg
225g of plain flour
1/2 tsp (teaspoon) bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
175g chocolate chunks or chips (I love a mixture of milk and dark!)
Don’t want to make your own cookie dough?
You can use shop bought cookie dough and you’ll have similar results! You can buy cookie dough in a lot of supermarkets for around £1.50-£2.00 now, which will save you some time and effort.
Method for air fryer cookies:
Beat the butter and both sugars together in a bowl.
Once mixed add the egg and vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl combine together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and chocolate chunks (or chips!).
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined well.
Roll the dough into a long sausage shape and chill for a minimum of 1 hour ideally. This will help to make for a more delicious chewy cookie. On occasion I’ve left the dough overnight and the cookies are even better!
If you’re in a hurry you could skip the chilling, but I really feel it adds to the overall texture of the cookies so try to make time!
Roll out your cookie dough. I’ve experimented with balls, lightly press down with a fork, moulding cookie shapes and just cutting off a little slab from the chilled dough and they all take very similar time to cook, with similar results, so just be lazy and cut a slab off if you fancy!
Pre-heat your air fryer to 180c for 1-2 minutes if required.
Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of your air fryer. Without this the cookie dough may mould to the shape of the bottom of your basket and it will be a nightmare to get it out without it breaking up!
I lightly sprayed the parchment paper with 1 calorie spray oil but I think you could get away with skipping this step if you don’t have any in.
Cook for 5 minutes.
Transfer to a wire cooling rack, still on the parchment paper, and leave to cook for 5 minutes.
Gently peel back the parchment paper and you can enjoy your cookies while they are still warm, or they’ll keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container.
Do you need to use aluminium foil to bake these cookies?
No! I like to use parchment paper, as I find that works well. I can just lift that in and out with batches of cookies, and I leave them to cool a little on a cooling rack.
Want to make chewy air fryer cookies?
I believe that the chewiest cookies come from cooling the cookie dough for at least a few hours. I like to make my dough up and leave it in the fridge overnight. This definitely makes for a chewier cookie!
Can you make air fryer cookies from cookie dough?
Absolutely. Cooking times with air fryers can vary, dependent on size and whether your model needs heating, but I find a good measure of time is as above, 5 minutes at 170C (340F) and then leave for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Can you make cookies in the air fryer without parchment paper?
You can, however, you will likely find that they stick to the basket and take on that shape. This will make them hard to remove. Personally I recommend using parchment paper, just a little bigger in size than the cookies. You can then lift this out with ease and transfer to the cooling rack. Once the cookies are cooled you can just peel the paper away.
Want to make air fryer peanut butter cookies?
I’ve got my own super simple 3 ingredient air fryer peanut butter cookies recipe. Make sure you don’t crowd the basket though, as with any cookies they can spread a little!
If you’re looking to get the most from your air fryer these these are some of my favourite air fryer accessories and cookbooks:
Something to note about air fryer recipes is that all air fryers have different sizes, depths and as such the cooking times can vary. All air fryer recipes on this website are intended as a guide, and not a guarantee that the timings will be perfect. Enjoy!
How to make air fryer cookies:
Air fryer cookies
Delicious crisp yet gooey air fryer cookies
Ingredients
Cookie dough recipe:
- 135 g salted butter
- 70 g light brown sugar
- 70 g sugar
- 10 ml vanilla extract
- 1 medium egg
- 225 g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- pinch of salt
- 175 g chocolate chunks or chips I love a mixture of milk and dark!
Instructions
-
Beat the butter and both sugars together in a bowl.
-
Once mixed add the egg and vanilla extract.
-
In a separate bowl combine together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and chocolate chunks (or chips!).
-
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined well.
-
Roll the dough into a long sausage shape and chill for a minimum of 1 hour ideally. This will help to make for a more delicious chewy cookie. On occasion I’ve left the dough overnight and the cookies are even better!
-
If you’re in a hurry you could skip the chilling, but I really feel it adds to the overall texture of the cookies so try to make time!
-
Roll out your cookie dough. I’ve experimented with balls, lightly press down with a fork, moulding cookie shapes and just cutting off a little slab from the chilled dough and they all take very similar time to cook, with similar results, so just be lazy and cut a slab off if you fancy!
-
Pre-heat your air fryer to 180c for 1-2 minutes if required.
-
Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of your air fryer. Without this the cookie dough may mould to the shape of the bottom of your basket and it will be a nightmare to get it out without it breaking up!
-
I lightly sprayed the parchment paper with 1 calorie spray oil but I think you could get away with skipping this step if you don’t have any in.
-
Cook for 5 minutes.
-
Transfer to a wire cooling rack, still on the parchment paper, and leave to cook for 5 minutes.
-
Gently peel back the parchment paper and you can enjoy your cookies while they are still warm, or they’ll keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container.
Note: All calorie information is for demonstration purposes only and is based on the specific uncooked ingredients that I used when creating the recipe.
Note: All calorie information is for demonstration purposes only and is based on the specific uncooked ingredients that I used when creating the recipe.
Why not check out some of my other delicious air fryer recipes while you’re here?
- Air fryer burgers
- Air fryer cheese crumpets
- Air fryer jerk chicken
- Air fryer Nando’s chicken
- Air fryer potato wedges
- Air fryer Nando’s Bag and Bake
- Air fryer chicken recipes
- Air fryer breaded chicken breast
- The BEST air fryer vegetable recipes!
- Air fryer sausages
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