Do any of you have fear of frying? We certainly do! We don’t like to waste all that oil and we don’t like the big mess that comes with deep frying. So we went and got ourselves an air fryer. Now we can make our favorite breakfast of doughnuts any time we like without the fear or the guilt! The air fryer uses a lot less fat and still delivers that crisp doughnut exterior with the soft, fluffy interior.

We wanted to make seasonal flavored doughnuts and eggnog seemed a delicious choice and a flavor profile we haven’t used here on the blog before. We’ve given you two versions so we can please both eggnog enthusiasts and those of you that might not love it quite as much. If you love eggnog, you will love the glazed version. If you want a little less eggnog and a delicious crunchy coating, we recommend you try the sugar coated version. However, if you’re like us, you will love both versions. But you must (must!) eat them while they are warm. There really is nothing better than a warm eggnog doughnut on a cool fall (or winter) morning.

Mix ingredients together by hand into a “shaggy” dough.

Pat dough out on well floured surface to about 8 or 9 inches in diameter. Cut into 3″ circles.

You should end up with about 8 doughnuts and 8 doughnut holes.

Coat doughnuts in melted butter and place in your air fryer. They are done when brown and puffed, about 7-8 minutes at 350 degrees.

Brush with more melted butter and toss in sugar coating…

…or coat in eggnog glaze!

Air Fryer Eggnog Doughnuts

Sugar Coating:

• ½ cup (3½ ounces) sugar
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp fresh ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp fine sea salt

Eggnog Glaze:

• ¼ cup prepared eggnog
• 1 ½ cups (6 oz) confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• ¼ tsp fresh ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

Doughnuts:

• 2 ½ cups (12½ ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp fresh ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• ½ cup prepared eggnog (store-bought or home-made)
• ¼ cup (1.75 ounces) sugar
• ¼ cup buttermilk
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 large egg
• 8 TBS butter, melted (for coating)

FOR THE SUGAR COATING: Whisk sugar, cinnamon, and salt together in medium bowl; set aside.

FOR THE EGGNOG GLAZE: Place a small bowl over a pot of simmering water. Add the eggnog to the bowl and allow to warm. Once warmed through, whisk in the powdered sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Remove pot from heat but keep bowl over warm water bath until ready to use, stirring from time to time.

FOR THE DOUGHNUTS: Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in bowl. Whisk prepared eggnog, sugar, buttermilk, 4 TBS melted butter, and egg together in large bowl. Whisk half of flour mixture into eggnog mixture until smooth. Add remaining flour mixture; using rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix and press dough until all flour is hydrated and no dry bits remain.

Dust counter heavily with flour. Turn out dough onto floured counter, then dust top of dough with additional flour. With floured hands, gently pat dough into about ½ -inch-thick round, 9 to 10 inches in diameter. Using floured 3-inch round cutter, cut out 5 – 6 doughnut rounds. Then using 1-inch round cutter, cut hole in center of each round.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Transfer doughnut rounds and holes to prepared sheet. Combine dough scraps, then knead into cohesive ball and pat into ½ -inch-thick round. Cut out 2 or 3 more doughnut rounds and holes (you should get about 8 of each). Transfer to sheet.

Coat three doughnuts on both sides with melted butter (depending on the size of your air fryer, you may be able to cook more per batch). Place the three coated doughnuts in air fryer and cook for 7-8 minutes at temperature of 350. Doughnuts are done when golden brown, puffed and fairly firm. Remove from air fryer to wire rack placed over a baking sheet.

The doughnut holes will only need to cook for about 5 minutes, so it is easiest to do all of those in their own batch.

For sugar coated doughnuts and holes:

Allow to cool just until able to handle, then brush each one all over with melted butter and toss in sugar coating. Return to wire rack to cool a bit more while your repeat the air frying process with the remaining dough.

For glazed doughnuts and holes:

If you would like to glaze your doughnuts, again allow them to cool until just able to handle then dip in warm glaze – coating entirely. Set back on rack to allow glaze to harden a bit.

These doughnuts are best served warm, so as soon as they are cool enough to handle – dig in!

Makes about 8 doughnuts and 8 doughnut holes