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When that cookie craving hits, there’s really no stopping it. And thanks to your air fryer, you can bypass the time it takes to preheat your oven and enjoy them even sooner. Jerrelle Guy — recipe developer, author of the James Beard Award-nominated cookbook “Black Girl Baking,” and creator of The Dinner Ritual, a newsletter exploring the intersection of cooking and spirituality — tells Tasting Table, “I find a lot of cookies work just as well in the [air fryer] as the oven, especially chocolate chip and sugar cookies, maybe getting slightly crunchier and darker on the surface.”
While Jacques Torres’ extra-large chocolate chip cookie recipe will forever reign supreme, Tasting Table staff also took the liberty of ranking some of the best chocolate chip cookie recipes across the internet, all of which can be made in the air fryer — and that includes vegan chocolate chip cookies. Sugar cookie lovers aren’t left out either. Jennine Rye’s buttery sugar cookie recipe is one to beat, and our round-up of ways to upgrade your store-bought cookie dough includes a special tip for your store-bought sugar cookie mix. But, before you pop them in your air fryer, Guy says some adjustments will need to be made.
Tips for baking cookies in the air fryer
Apart from the size, there are some key differences between your regular oven and your air fryer that will require you to adjust the way you bake your cookies. Guy says, “Since air fryers circulate hot air quickly in a small space, be sure to evenly portion and space your cookies to facilitate even airflow and use perforated parchment paper so you don’t lose dough through the cracks.” She also says you should adjust the temperature, too. “As a general rule, start by lowering the baking temperature by about 25 [degrees Fahrenheit] compared to a regular oven, and check for doneness way earlier than you would the oven,” Guy shares.
Aside from spreading your cookies further apart from one another, using parchment paper, and turning down the temperature, you should note that the air fryer isn’t ideal for cookies with toppings, so be sure to mix the chocolate chips and sprinkles into your dough. Another good tip is to use a small baking sheet, and to leave some space along the sides of your basket uncovered to allow for air flow, because, unlike your oven, there’s actually air blowing around in there.
It might take a few tries to get your cookies exactly the way you like them. For that reason, Guy recommends doing a test batch first to avoid wasting all of your dough.
