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Home » Recipes » Gluten Free Breakfast Recipes

Air Fried Gluten Free Yeast Donuts

Published: Dec 12, 2019 · Modified: May 25, 2025 by Kim · This post may contain affiliate links · 15 Comments

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No worrying about the mess and bother of frying because these babies are AIR FRIED gluten free yeast donuts! And they're so soft and fluffy, you truly will never know they haven't been fried.

air fried gluten free yeast donuts

Some of the items linked in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, if you click through and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission.

Yep, you read that right! These gluten free yeast donuts are AIR FRIED!!! And they taste and feel JUST as if they were fried in oil. I bought an air fryer a few years ago after I was intrigued by the whole idea of frying without oil. I understood the concept, which is basically the same thing as a convection oven. A convection oven uses fans to circulate hot air around the food, thereby cooking it much faster. An air fryer is really just a scaled down model of a convection oven.

So when I saw Gemma Stafford from Bigger Bolder Baking's recipe for Homemade Donuts: Baked Better than Fried, I was so curious. I know how it is to not want to break out either a dedicated fryer like the one I have or pour a good amount of oil into a Dutch oven. Which you know eventually gets poured out and discarded anyway, and the pot can be a real b*tch to clean. It's a pain to say the least. But we do what we have to because we want the same things everyone else gets, like Krispy Kreme or Dunkin Donuts.

WHAT IF I DON'T HAVE AN AIR FRYER?

Fear not because Gemma Stafford didn't make hers in an air fryer either. She used a regular 'ole oven. So if you don't have an air fryer, just bake them in your oven. They'll take a little over double the time, but that's still only about 12-13 minutes to bake!

The Ingredients in Air Fryer Gluten Free Yeast Donuts

This recipe is the same recipe for my gluten free fried yeast donuts. It starts with a sweet dough consisting of:

  • Kim's gluten free bread flour blend -- this is my own creation and I can't promise these donuts will work if you use some other flour blend. If you need substitutions within the blend, they're listed on my flour blends page.
  • Granulated sugar
  • Baking powder
  • Instant yeast
  • Salt
  • Milk
  • Butter
  • Eggs
donuts cut out before rising
donuts risen getting ready to fry

Time to Make the Donuts

The steps for making these donuts are very simple. Once the dough has been made and bulk fermented (proofed), it's chilled for several hours so that it will be very easy to work with.

  • Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth, adding more flour as necessary.
  • Roll out the dough to about ½-inch thickness.
  • Cut out dough with donut cutter (like this one) or biscuit cutters in two different sizes (like these).
  • Place on parchment-lined baking sheet and allow to proof (rise) until doubled in size.
  • Preheat air fryer to 350 degrees F and set the timer for 6 minutes. Alternatively, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Carefully place risen donuts in fryer basket. Depending on the size of your air fryer, you should be able to fit only 4 donuts at a time (unless you're frying donut holes or your donuts are very small). My air fryer is a large capacity air fryer (this is the one I have and I love it!).
  • Air fry for approximately 4 minutes, or bake in your oven for 12-13 minutes or until golden brown.
  • Remove donuts from air fryer, allow to cool enough to handle, and coat with toppings of choice.

What are Some Topping Ideas?

I LOVE a good plain glazed donut and the glaze in my Incredible Gluten Free Yeast Donuts works perfectly for these air fried donuts! It has melted butter in it, which makes it so much more flavorful than just a simple powdered sugar glaze. Once dipped in glaze, the donuts can then be topped with another topping, such as sprinkles, a thick chocolate glaze (see here), or chopped toasted nuts.

For dry toppings, you'll need something to help those toppings stick (without frying in oil, they won't have the tackiness). You can either spray them with a butter-flavored cooking spray, brush them with melted butter or coconut oil, or dunk them in melted butter or coconut oil. I choose to dunk them in melted butter because that's how I roll (I'm a butter lover). Some ideas for dry toppings include:

  • Granulated sugar
  • Cinnamon and sugar (½ cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon)
  • Chai sugar (½ cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and ½ teaspoon ground cardamom)
  • Powdered sugar
  • Finely chopped toasted peanuts, almonds, walnuts, or pecans
filling and decorating donuts

Can I Make Filled Air Fried Donuts?

For filled donuts, use a biscuit cutter and don't cut out the middle of the donut. Air fry as above, allow to cool enough to handle, and fill with the filling of your choice. Here are a couple of options:

  • Jelly -- I like a strawberry or raspberry jelly, and I just tried Molly Yeh's raspberry rose donuts that were heaven!! I love the touch of rose water in the jelly.
  • Cream -- the "cream" in a cream-filled donut is usually a frosting of sorts. I like filling with this special cream filling.
  • Bavarian cream -- this is simply a pastry cream and it's so, so good!! My pastry cream in this recipe is perfect for filling donuts.
filled and decorated gluten free yeast donuts

Can I Make the Donuts Ahead of Time?

After being air fried (or baked), the donuts are best eaten the same day. However, you can make the dough up to 3 days ahead of time. You can also roll out the dough, cut out the donuts, and place the donuts in the refrigerator to cold proof overnight.

When you're ready to air fry them (or bake them) the next morning (say, on Christmas morning 😉) they should have risen in the fridge overnight. If not, take them out and allow them to rise at least an hour before air frying. Preheat the air fryer and you'll have fresh "fried" donuts in less than 10 minutes (or 13 for baked)!! Who doesn't want that???

more gluten free breakfast treats

  • Ultimate overnight monkey bread
  • Cinnamon knots
  • Mochi waffles
  • Beignets
  • Bakery style apple fritters
  • Ultimate cinnamon rolls
  • Orange rolls
tray of air fried donuts

What could be better than a deep "fried" donut that's not actually fried?? All the flavor and texture of deep fried without the extra calories and mess! And gluten free to boot? Sign me up 😋

air fried gluten free yeast donuts

Air Fried Gluten Free Yeast Donuts

Kim
No worrying about the mess and bother of frying because these babies are AIR FRIED gluten free yeast donuts! And they're so soft and fluffy, you truly will never know they haven't been fried.
3.50 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 4 minutes mins
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Servings 10 donuts

Ingredients
 

  • ½ recipe Ultimate Gluten Free Cinnamon Roll dough

GLAZE:

  • 2 cups (250 g) powdered sugar
  • 4 tablespoon butter, melted
  • 4 tablespoon whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • fillings, such as jelly or this American vanilla buttercream
  • toppings, such as sprinkles, chopped toasted salted peanuts, powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, or plain granulated sugar
  • extra melted butter (about 2-4 tbsp) for dipping donuts before rolling in toppings of choice
Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions
 

  • Remove dough from refrigerator and knead on well floured surface until smooth.  Roll dough out until it is about ½-inch thick.  Cut dough with donut cutter dipped in flour or biscuit cutters.  Place donuts on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm, draft-free area until about doubled in size.  
  • When donuts are completely risen, preheat air fryer to 350° F and set it to 4 minutes.  Carefully place donuts in air fryer, about 4 at a time (depending on the size of your air fryer), and fry for about 4 minutes (every air fryer is different, so you'll have to adjust this time to suit your own air fryer). Alternatively, preheat oven to 350° F. Bake donuts for 12-13 minutes, or until golden brown.
  • Remove donuts from the air fryer and allow to cool enough to handle before dipping in glaze or melted butter and either filling or rolling in nuts, sprinkles, sugar, etc.
  • Donuts are best eaten fresh from the fryer or oven.

Notes

***DISCLAIMER:  The reason I created my own flour blends is because I could not obtain the results I wanted with flour blends that were available in stores, online, or from other gluten free bloggers.  My recipes have been developed to be used with my own bread flour blend that I created after painstakingly testing for, in some cases, YEARS to develop what I believe to be a superior gluten free bread like no other.  If you do not use my gluten free bread flour blend for this recipe, I cannot speak for the results you will obtain.    While store bought blends may give you a satisfactory result, they may NOT give you the results intended in my recipe. 
Keyword air fried, air fryer, Gluten Free, yeast donuts
Tried this recipe?Tag @letthemeatglutenfreecake on Instagram so we can see!

Inspired by Bigger Bolder Baking's Homemade Donuts: Baked Better Than Fried.

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Comments

  1. Stacy says

    March 04, 2025 at 11:59 am

    If I make dough on a Monday is it ok to let it chill in fridge til Thursday( it says chill at least 4-6 hrs) so I can make donuts then?

    Reply
    • Kim says

      March 07, 2025 at 9:22 am

      Yes! I wouldn't go any longer than that, though. It will start to over ferment beyond 3-4 days.

      Reply
      • Stacy says

        March 10, 2025 at 5:15 pm

        Thanks! One other question. I want to make these in morning and would prefer to not have delay air frying/eating. How long does it take for them to double in size after you cut into donut shape? If takes long time can you cut donuts and let them double in size the night before to save time, put in fridge and then bake next morning?

      • Kim says

        March 16, 2025 at 6:27 am

        It really depends on the temperature of your proofing area, but I would not recommend cutting and proofing them before refrigerating as they risk being over proofed and then falling. In a normal temperature setting (between 70-75 degrees F), they shouldn't take more than an hour to proof.

  2. Alach Valderrama says

    September 20, 2022 at 5:51 am

    Hi Kim,
    My celiac daughters love doughnuts and I am about to make your recipe but want to bulk it as they will not eat these many doughnuts in one sitting. What is your suggestion on how to freeze to warm or bake later. Should I bake them then freeze? Or freeze them uncooked?

    Reply
    • Kim says

      September 22, 2022 at 5:15 am

      I would suggest freezing them unbaked. You can shape them and place them on a baking sheet and allow to freeze until solid. Then store them in a ziptop bag and when you're ready to make them, place frozen donuts on a baking sheet and cover loosely, allowing to rise from frozen (it will take longer than usual).

      Reply
  3. Mars says

    May 07, 2020 at 12:43 am

    These turned out great, so light and airy! I made a half batch and there were no leftovers. Thank you😊

    Reply
    • Kim says

      May 09, 2020 at 4:53 am

      Thanks so much, Mars 🙂

      Reply
  4. Jackie says

    March 06, 2020 at 8:20 pm

    Where is the dough recipe? I see where ingredients are listed and there is a link to another site. However the ingredients don’t match up. The other site mentions vanilla and then this one mentions baking powder... Am I missing the recipe?
    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Kim says

      March 07, 2020 at 8:00 am

      Hi, Jackie! The link is to my cinnamon roll dough, which isn't another site. It's just the recipe for the dough part of the donuts 😄

      Reply
      • Jackie says

        March 07, 2020 at 12:26 pm

        Okay. I see! Thanks! Excited to try these!

  5. Angela Carranza says

    January 13, 2020 at 7:23 pm

    I made the dough and it rose overnight but when I went to rise again after the next day cutting the donuts out, the dough just spread out. I went ahead and tried to air fry them and they’re flat pancakes. I don’t know what happened.

    Reply
    • Kim says

      January 13, 2020 at 9:44 pm

      Oh, no! Did you substitute anything in the dough or the flour blend? Sometimes substitutions don't always work. This dough is usually so forgiving and supple and doesn't spread.

      Reply
  6. Pam V says

    December 12, 2019 at 6:03 pm

    Kim, I am so excited about this recipe! We’re on vacation and family had to have Krispy Kremes. It was sad I couldn’t indulge too. I’m going to make these when I get home. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Kim says

      December 13, 2019 at 9:10 pm

      I know the feeling! You'll love these donuts, though. They're so easy (and yummy!)

      Reply

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Hey there, I'm Kim!

I won't let a celiac diagnosis stop me from enjoying my passion for baking and cooking, so stick with me and I'll show you how to make the BEST EVER gluten-free renditions of the food we used to know and love 🤗

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