Can you bake cookies in your air before? Absolutely. An air fryer bakes cookies just like a normal oven, and usually much more quickly. With a few adjustments in baking time and pan choice, it's a simple process.
Here's what you need to know to bake cookies in your air earlier successfully.
Can an air fryer bake all types of cookies?
Yes, almost any cookie recipe is appropriate for your air beforehand. The typical temperature range for fries is about 180F to 400F, which allows you to bake anything from Meringues (200°F) to drop cookies (375°F).
Due to the potential limitations of the fryer, it may not be possible to bake for a long time Biscotti logs or certain cookies that require a mold (eg, Madeleines). But Slice-and-bake, Spray, Kututs – and of course, Drop cookies – Everything will be fine in your air before.
PJ Hamel
What air conditioner should I use for cookies?
Use your air conditioner's “bake” setting. It will automatically set the temperature for you, usually to 350° F. Select your desired temperature on the control panel if your recipe calls for a different temperature.
In addition, using the “bake” setting dials back the convection fan a bit, making your air fryer more similar to a normal oven.
What if my suitor doesn't have a bake setting?
Some older air fryer models don't offer a bake setting, but you can absolutely use the “air fry” setting to bake cookies. The main challenge will be baking cookies all the way through before they get overly brown; The convection fans keep hot air flowing over the top surface of the cookies constantly, which makes them brown more quickly than in a normal oven.
This can sometimes be a benefit: if you like your cookies crispy on the outside and soft and fudgy in the center, the “air fry” setting is the best way to go. Learn more: The air fryer is my new favorite way to make chocolate chip cookies.
Photography by Christine Teige; Food styling by Liz Neely
But if you're not going for a crispy/fudgy texture, here are a few things to try:
- If you can adjust the oven's temperature, set it 25° lower than your recipe suggests.
- Tent a piece of aluminum foil over the pan, anchoring it securely at both ends so the convection fan does not lift it off. Remove the foil about halfway through the baking time.
- Check the cookies often! They will bake very quickly if they are particularly high in sugar or fat, such as these Buttercups.
How do I bake the cookies?
If your chosen recipe says to chill the dough, do so; It will help keep the cookies from spreading too quickly and improve their flavor.
Once your dough is ready, decide which pan to use. A small cookie sheet or Quarter sheet pan Is ideal if your before is big enough. If you have a basket-type before, you will probably need a Round Or Square cake pan.
PJ Hamel
Arrange the cookies on whichever pan you chose while you preheat your pan to the desired temperature. This should only take 2-3 minutes or so, compared to your larger oven's 15-20 minutes (or more).
Do you really have to preheat yours beforehand? Not necessarily, but preheating to any given temperature lets you decrease the baking time, thus reproducibly replicating your results in the future.
Place the pan of cookies in the preheated oven. Start your timer and stick around; These cookies will bake quickly, and you'll want to check their progress often, especially as you get used to your own fryer.
So, cookies will bake more quickly in my air earlier?
Yes. Air fryers are simply tiny convection ovens. Full-size convection ovens bake about 20% faster than standard ovens; Your air conditioner will bake cookies even faster.
Our tests show that small air fryers with the bake setting can bake cookies up to 40% faster than your recipe time indicates, so be sure to start checking your cookies for density well before the time your recipe suggests.
PJ Hamel
If your air conditioner has a larger capacity than the typical bucket conditioner (eg, our Breville Smart Oven® Air Fryer Pro), the cookies bake a little faster – about 20% in our tests – than in a standard oven. Start checking them a few minutes before the recipe's minimum baking time.
If you find that the baking process is simply too fast for you, try lowering the oven's temperature by 25 °; This will slow things down.
Should I turn my pan in the air beforehand, like I do in a regular oven?
If your pan is the basket type and only holds a small pan, there is no need to rotate.
If your fryer is a toaster-oven type model, yes, turn your pan front-to-back halfway through. This will encourage even baking and browning.
PJ Hamel
What else should I know about baking cookies in an air beforehand?
If you're a fan of warm-from-the-oven cookies (and who isn't?), the pretzel is your new best friend. Store pre-made balls of drop cookie dough in the freezer, and when a cookie craving hits, pop a few balls of frozen dough straight into the air beforehand. You can have yourself a melted chocolate chip cookie in under 10 minutes!
Is there a downside to baking cookies in an air fryer?
Air fryers do not have the capacity of a range or wall oven. Basket or drawer ovens, even the extra-large models, offer an interior diameter of only about 10″ at most. Ovens shaped more like a conventional toaster oven typically hold the equivalent of a 9″ x 13″ (quarter-sheet) Pan.
The fryer is not the way to go if you are baking dozens of cookies at once. But for smaller number of cookies (say, If you half your prescription); Or if you want to bake some cookies now, and freeze some dough for later; Or if you're simply ready to bake your cookies in multiple batches, an air fryer performs admirably.
Hungry for more? Read Everything you ever wanted to know about baking in an air before.
Cover photo by Meredith Truax.