I Tried Making TikTok’s Air Fryer Banana Donuts Recipe and the Outcome Was Nowhere Near What I Expected

Hi, I’m Lois and I’m a donut addict. I offer to drive people to the airport simply so I can drive through the Dunkin’ Donuts near the terminal and, after I got my COVID vaccine, I stopped at Krispy Kreme every day for weeks to show my card and get a free Original Glazed Doughnut.

So, there was no doubt, after watching @thecanok make banana donuts in her air fryer on TikTok, that I was going to have to try making them myself. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one. Her video has been viewed more than 2.7 million times, with hundreds of fans commenting about their own experiences recreating the recipe.

Get the recipe: Air Fryer Banana Donuts

You only need four ingredients and maybe a half hour total for this recipe, so it’s not a big investment in time or money.

You’ll start by cutting one banana into pieces, placing the pieces in a bowl, and mushing them up with a fork. Add ½ cup flour and 1 teaspoon baking powder. Mix it all together, roll the dough into a ball, then lay it out flat. Use a round cookie cutter to cut out four circles before placing them in the air fryer at 390°F for 7-8 minutes. While they’re cooking, melt semi-sweet chocolate chips in a bowl. I did this using the microwave, but you can also do so stove top. When the donuts are done, dip them in the chocolate so they look like Boston Cream donuts.

I’d like to tell you these were amazing but, at best, they were only okay. If you just take them at face value and don’t think of them as donuts, they’re tasty enough. Though I believe that it’s hard to go wrong with banana and chocolate, as donuts, these just don’t cut it. Like so many fans commented, they came out dense rather than soft and fluffy.

My husband said they looked like scones; I think they tasted like biscuits. I’m not sure how to correct this since, after reading the comments and @thecanok’s responses, I was really careful about not using too much flour. If I’d used any less, however, the dough would have stuck to everything. Maybe I overworked the dough? I really don’t know, but I doubt I’ll be making these again when I can make a much more satisfying Dunkin’ run instead.

1. Don’t worry if you don’t have a cookie cutter. I used a stemmed wine glass to make the circles and they came out just fine.
2. You can fill the donuts with vanilla pudding for more of a Boston Cream effect. You can watch @thecanok’s video showing how to do that here.
3. Melt lots of chocolate. Extra chocolate can cover a multitude of imperfections — if you’re worried about that kind of thing.