Yes, You Can Bake Cookies in Your Air Fryer — Everything You Need to Know

We are in the midst of holiday season, as you may have noticed, and that means it’s also baking season. This is the month when all I crave are warm, freshly baked cookies on repeat. Sometimes though, I don’t want to bake a whole batch of 12, 24, or even 48 cookies. I just want a few, and I want them quickly. Enter: the air fryer. Here, we break down everything you need to know about how to bake cookies in this small countertop appliance.

It’s quick. What makes the air fryer so speedy? “The circulating air cooks the food fast[er] and at a lower temp, like a convection oven,” says Dana Angelo White, MS, RD, ATC, author of Healthy Air Fryer Cookbook. 

Baking cookies in an air fryer takes around five minutes, whereas a traditional recipe in the oven takes between 9 and 11 minutes. The shorter baking time means you’re less likely to walk away — potentially cutting down on burnt cookies. Another advantage? It creates a cookie that’s crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside. In fact, crispy exteriors are what the air fryer excels at.

• Prepare the dough. If you’re using store-bought dough, get it out of the fridge), divide it into even amounts based on the yield of the recipe.
• Prep the air fryer basket. Spray the inner basket with nonstick cooking spray to prevent the cookies from sticking, or use a small baking pan if you have one that fits in the air fryer basket.
• Bake. The time it takes for a cookie to fully bake in an air fryer will be different than in the oven, a basic chocolate chip cookie will bake at 350°F for five minutes, for example. Timing will vary depending on the recipe, especially if it wasn’t developed for the air fryer. When air frying a cookie that was designed for a conventional oven, reduce the heat on the machine by about 25°F (so if a cookie recipe calls for 350°F in a conventional oven, set it to about 325°). Start with baking for 5 minutes, and add bake time in 1 minute increments as necessary.
• Cool the cookies. Gently remove the finished cookies and transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

• Choose your recipe carefully. While you can air fry any cookies, you might want to ditch those with gooey toppings, which can be harder to get just right. “The heating element for most air fryers is at the top of the machine. Sometimes the tops can burn before the rest of the cookies are done,” says White. For this reason, be especially mindful of cookies with jam or sprinkled sugar on top, which can be problematic. “Chocolate chip, lemon cookies, and others where all the ingredients are incorporated work best,” she explains. 
• Use a baking pan, if you have one. If you have a baking pan that fits your air fryer, use it to avoid a mess. “The dough can drip through the basket,” says White. You can also buy sheets of parchment with holes in them to allow the air to circulate, but some dough may still fall through, so it’s a second best option. 
• For more cookies, bake in batches. If you want to make more than a few cookies at a time, you will have to work in batches, so this process may be preferable if you’re just looking to have a few freshly baked cookies — for yourself or to share with a friend.

Get the recipe: Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies