How To Tackle Fried Ice Cream In The Air Fryer (& The Best Coating)

No longer is fried ice cream relegated to a dessert only to be ordered at restaurants. You can make this satisfying treat at home, and you can use an air fryer to do so. While you may think of using this appliance to whip up batches of french fries and prepare oatmeal for breakfast, air fryers can also help you set desserts onto the dinner table with ease.

Though deep-fried ice cream may sound difficult to pull off, your air fryer is your new best friend when it comes to making this dish. With a bit of preparation, you'll have sweet balls of ice cream rolled up into crispy shells, presenting satisfying morsels to spoon into upon serving. Since batter and air fryers don't play well together, you'll need to assemble the perfect coating to cover each scoop of ice cream to ensure optimal crispness. The good news is that you most likely have the necessary ingredients stocked away in your kitchen cupboard.

For a crisp shell that protects the inner ice cream treat from melting, make a coating out of crushed nuts, honey, and your favorite sweet cereal like Honey & Nut Corn Flakes or Cheerios. While using vanilla ice cream is a recipe standard, feel free to experiment with your favorite flavors and cover each cream ball with a coating of a beaten egg before rolling the treats into the crumb layer. If you're finding that the egg coating isn't sticking to the ice cream, it can be helpful to first roll the ice cream in flour and set the ice cream balls in the freezer to harden before placing them into the fryer.

To make cleanup as easy as possible, line your air fryer with parchment paper to keep any mishaps in check, and you can lightly mist each ball with a cooking oil spray. Depending on your machine, you may need to rotate the balls midway through the cooking process so that each treat is perfectly browned (but do so with caution, as the desserts are delicate). The impressive-looking fried dessert will be ready to serve in under 60 seconds: Crisp, crunchy exteriors with soft, sweet mouthfuls of ice cream hidden inside.