Why Fried Dough Just Won't Work Out In Your Air Fryer

Air fryers are often seen as a good substitute for deep frying, thanks to the variety of easy and well-beloved recipes you can make in them. They present a healthier alternative to frying food in a lot of oil, as well as a faster way of roasting food you'd normally bake in an oven. When a kitchen gadget saves you time and simultaneously promotes a healthy lifestyle, it's hard to argue against it, but even America's favorite kitchen appliance has its limitations. Because air fryers heat food with hot air, they're much more similar to a convection oven than they are to a deep fryer. That's why there are some dishes for which the air fryer simply cannot replace deep frying — one of them is pastry dough.

Any type of soft dough that you're used to dropping directly into hot oil just won't work out in your air fryer. When you drop wet dough directly into oil, it's immediately heated to a high temperature and therefore instantly able to hold shape. Moist dough (like the one you need for churros) or liquid batter (as used in fried bananas) can't keep their intended shape in an air fryer. Instead, they make a mess and don't turn out right texture-wise. That means churros are still the best when fried in oil, like Spaniards intended it, and should not be seeing the inside of your air fryer anytime soon.

People have certainly tried (and failed) to adapt fried dough recipes for the air fryer. The idea behind it is usually to recreate a staple recipe with less oil — but it's precisely the oil that makes fried dough so delicious. The most notable, delicious part of fried pastry is the softness of the bite: the sweet flavor paired with a fluffy texture. Air fryers can't replicate that. They yield pastry with a harder, chewier texture that's more akin to a scone or a cookie. If you want a glazed donut to taste like a proper, cloudy donut, you shouldn't be skipping the oil-frying part.

You can, however, experiment with the kind of dough that's supposed to be baked rather than fried. Think of dough that is dry, sturdy, and holds its shape very well even before you put it into the oven. Pizza dough, two-ingredient bagels, and even cookies will all turn out delicious in your air fryer. As long as your dough is able to hold shape and the texture you're going for is a bit firmer, you'll be successful. Air frying and deep frying are both great cooking methods; they're just not completely interchangeable. In the case of fried pastry dough, oil frying remains the winner and is totally worth the little bit of extra work.