Insanely Simple Air Fryer Lemon Donuts
Refreshing and sweet lemon donuts that are cooked in the air fryer for optimal health. These are a wonderful lighter alternative to deep fried donuts that are made simply with good for you ingredients! They are the perfect healthy dessert that everyone can enjoy!
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Easy Air Fryer Lemon Donuts
Hello everyone and good morning! I am so excited to share a new breakfast/dessert recipe with you guys – lemon donuts!
I have been testing a few different donut recipes recently, but none of them were turning out how I envisioned. However, like most good things in life, it takes time to find the results you seek.
I truly believe that if you stick with something long enough, you’ll find success eventually. Most people just don’t stay persistent enough for it to come.
And trust me, I know it can be difficult to put in work and have little to show for it. But if you put 100 percent into the things you love, good things will come your way.
As the saying goes, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
These Lemon Donuts Are Light and Sweet
These donuts are lightly sweetened so that you won’t experience that dreadful sugar crash after breakfast or after enjoying these as a healthy dessert at the end of the night.
I’m a huge fan of lemon flavored things, so I thought it was about time that I brought a lemon donut recipe to the blog that uses fresh lemon zest and lemon juice.
And let me tell you, these donuts do not disappoint. Rather than deep frying them, I cooked them in the air fryer for that perfect golden brown exterior and soft interior.
I also used a mix of whole wheat pastry flour and oat flour to pack the donuts with nutrients and make them a bit more dense. Thus, these donuts not only taste incredible, but they provide a great health boost as well. My older sister said they remind her of soft pretzels, just a little bit sweeter with a light lemon flavor.
The Lemon Donuts Are Healthy and Fluffy
While I think they are closer to a baked donut texture and taste than a pretzel, I do understand where she’s coming from. These are definitely a cross between a lemony bread and a donut, so I guess you could technically call them a dessert pretzel.
Either way, they taste amazing, and that’s what counts, right? Plus, they are so incredibly simple to make, with less than ten ingredients, and no deep frying.
You don’t have to worry about burning yourself because you aren’t working with a huge vat of oil, and you avoid the mess that comes with that.
And I think we can all agree that the worst part about baking is the clean up process (this is coming from someone who actually enjoys cleaning and organizing).
Now, let’s take a look at some of the ingredients that make these lemon air fryer donuts so incredible.
Easy Air Fryer Lemon Donuts – Ingredients
- Oat Flour – The oat flour serves as a great healthy base for this recipe. It packs in a lot of nutrients and makes the perfect dough when combined with the whole wheat pastry flour.
- Whole Wheat Pastry Flour – The whole wheat pastry flour helps thicken up the dough so it’s easy to roll out and keeps its form. When combined with the oat flour, it makes the perfect consistency for these donuts.
- Truvia Cane Sugar Blend – The Truvia blend adds sweetness to this recipe without using a ton of added sugar. These donuts are light and sweet, with only a couple grams of sugar each.
The baking blend of Truvia and traditional sugar helps make that possible. The Truvia cane sugar blend is one of my go-to sweeteners for healthy desserts, so I highly recommend it.
- Active Dry Yeast – This ingredient will help your dough rise, which is super important because these donuts are vegan. To prepare your yeast, you want to get your nut milk to a warm temperature of about 100 degrees F.
Then, you will combine it with a bit of the Truvia blend and your nut milk and set it aside for a few minutes to activate.
- Nut Milk – The nut milk will combine with all the other ingredients to form the dough. I used unsweetened cashew milk in this recipe.
- Coconut Oil – The coconut oil adds some richness to this recipe and really elevates the donuts to a whole new level.
- Pure Vanilla Extract – This ingredient makes the whole recipe come together, and it’s one of my favorite ingredients to use in baked goods.
- Lemon Juice and Lemon Zest – The lemon juice and zest complete this recipe by giving it that classic hint of lemon.
More Donut Recipes You Might Like:
Some Of My Favorite Cooking/Baking Products:
Air Fryer Lemon Donuts
Ingredients
For The Donuts
- 3/4 cup oat flour
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
- 2 tbsp Truvia cane sugar blend
- 1/2 packet active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup unsweetened nut milk (I used cashew milk)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon zest
For The Glaze
- 3 tsp Truvia cane sugar blend
- 3/4 tsp unsweetened nut milk (I used cashew)
Instructions
- Warm the nut milk until a temperature of about 100° F is achieved. If it's too hot, it will kill the yeast. If it's too cold, the yeast won't activate. Note: the back of your yeast package should tell you the exact temperature to shoot for.
- Combine the yeast, 1 tsp of the Truvia blend, and the nut milk until the yeast is mostly dissolved, then set aside.
- Add the oat flour, pastry flour, and the rest of the Truvia blend to a mixing bowl, and combine thoroughly.
- Add in the yeast mixture, the vanilla extract, and the lemon juice, then mix again. Finally, add in the coconut oil, and mix again.
- Gently fold in the lemon zest.
- Cover the dough with a towel and set aside for an hour to rise.
- After the hour is up, place the dough on a sheet of parchment paper and roll it out to about 1/2" thick (you can go thicker for taller donuts).
- Use large and small round cookie cutters to cut out the donut shapes.
- Lightly grease your air fryer with oil and bake donuts for about 4 – 5 minutes at 350° F until golden brown.
- Enjoy as is or make a light glaze by combining the 3 tsp Truvia blend with the 1 tsp nut milk and spread a generous layer on top of each donut.
Notes
I hope you enjoy this simple yet tasty recipe that takes a healthy, vegan twist on the traditional lemon donut. Talk to you guys soon!
Sending happiness & light your way!
-Alyssa 🙂
