Air Fry Frozen Breakfast Pastries For The Crunchiest, Flakiest Outer Shell

Breakfast pastries like croissants can be pretty complicated to make from scratch, but we don't always want to brave the outside world and venture to a coffee shop to get one either. The solution? Frozen breakfast pastries. You can buy these treats at the grocery store, or if you plan ahead, you can purchase fresh pastries from your favorite coffee shop or bakery and freeze them for the mornings to come.

If you use the oven to heat them up, it can take close to 20 minutes to achieve a warm morning dessert, but if you pop them in the air fryer, you should get hot, fresh pastries in about eight minutes, depending on the size and type you choose. The best part is that the air fryer is known for producing crispy treats because it rapidly blows hot air all around the basket. So when you use it to reheat a pain au chocolat or apple turnover, you'll get an extra-crunchy, flaky shell, but the middle will still be sweet, warm, and gooey — a result that the oven just can't replicate.

It may be tempting to let your croissants come to room temperature on the counter before tossing them in the air fryer — but resist the urge, as any defrosting ahead of time can lead to a soggy pastry. Plus, it's easier just to throw them straight in the basket frozen anyway. Like with most air fryer recipes, you don't need to add oil to the basket, and pastries typically have so much butter that extra grease is unnecessary. For an ultra-crackly outer shell, however, you can brush them with an egg wash and sprinkle on turbinado sugar (you know, the chunky brown crystals) before you begin air frying. An egg and water wash will turn your desserts shiny and golden, while an egg alone will produce a darker hue.

If this is your first time making pastries in the air fryer, start out with five minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then flip your treats and pop them back in the device for another three minutes. You'll want them to be golden brown and, of course, heated all the way through when they're done. Bigger desserts will, of course, take a little longer to finish cooking; while croissants should take around 10 minutes, turnovers could take as much as 16 minutes depending on the size. Keep an eye on your pastries while they air fry so they don't get too stiff a crust or burnt, and you'll end up with perfect morning desserts that are crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.