How to bake cookies in an air fryer

Can you bake cookies in your air fryer? Absolutely. An air fryer bakes cookies just as well as a standard oven, and usually much more quickly. With a few adjustments in baking time and pan choice, it’s a straightforward process. 

Here’s what you need to know to bake cookies in your air fryer successfully.

Can an air fryer bake all types of cookies?

Yes, almost any cookie recipe is appropriate for your air fryer. The typical temperature range for fryers is about 180°F to 400°F, which allows you to bake anything from meringues (200°F) to drop cookies (375°F). 

Given the fryer’s potential volume limitations, it may not be possible to bake long biscotti logs or certain cookies requiring a mold (e.g., madeleines). But slice-and-bake, spritz, cutouts — and of course, drop cookies — will all do just fine in your air fryer.

PJ Hamel

Which air fryer setting should I use for cookies?

Use your air fryer’s “bake” setting. It’ll 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 standard oven.

What if my fryer 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 become overly brown; the convection fans keep hot air flowing over the cookies’ top surface constantly, which makes them brown more quickly than in a standard 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 Kristin Teig; food styling by Liz Neily

But if you’re not going for a crispy/fudgy texture, here are some things to try: 

• If you’re able to adjust the fryer’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 doesn’t lift it off. Remove the foil about halfway through the baking time.
• Check the cookies frequently! They'll bake very quickly if they’re particularly high in sugar or fat, such as these Buttersnaps. 

How do I bake the cookies?

If your chosen recipe says to chill the dough, do so; it’ll help keep the cookies from spreading too quickly and enhance their flavor.

Once your dough is ready, determine what pan to use. A small cookie sheet or quarter sheet pan is ideal if your fryer is large enough. If you have a basket-type fryer, you’ll probably need a round or square cake pan. 

PJ Hamel

Arrange the cookies on whatever pan you’ve chosen while you preheat your fryer to the desired temperature. This should only take 2 to 3 minutes or so, compared to your larger oven’s 15 to 20 minutes (or more). 

Do you really have to preheat your fryer? Not necessarily, but preheating to any given temperature lets you nail down baking times, thus reliably replicating your results in the future.

Place the pan of cookies in the preheated fryer. Start your timer and stick around; the cookies will bake quickly, and you’ll want to check their progress frequently, especially while you’re getting used to your own fryer.

So, cookies will bake more quickly in my air fryer?

Yes. Air fryers are simply tiny convection ovens. Full-size convection ovens bake about 20% faster than standard ovens; your air fryer will bake cookies even faster. 

Our tests show that small air fryers using the bake setting can bake cookies up to 40% faster than your recipe time indicates, so be sure to start checking your cookies for doneness well before the time your recipe suggests.

PJ Hamel

If your air fryer has a larger capacity than the typical bucket-type fryer (e.g., our Breville Smart Oven® Air Fryer Pro), the cookies will bake somewhat 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 the baking process is simply too fast for you, try lowering the fryer’s temperature by 25°; this will slow things down.

Should I rotate my pan in the air fryer, as I do in a regular oven?

If your fryer is the basket type and holds only a small pan, there’s no need to rotate.

If your fryer is a toaster-oven type model, then yes, rotate 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 fryer?

If you’re a fan of warm-from-the-oven cookies (and who isn’t?), the fryer 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 directly into the air fryer. You can have yourself a melty chocolate chip cookie in under 10 minutes!

Is there a downside to baking cookies in an air fryer?

Air fryers don’t have the capacity of a range or wall oven. Basket- or drawer-type fryers, even the extra-large models, offer an interior diameter of only about 10" at most. Fryers shaped more like a conventional toaster oven typically hold the equivalent of a 9" x 13" (quarter-sheet) pan.

The fryer isn't the way to go if you’re baking dozens of cookies at once. But for smaller numbers of cookies (say, if you halve your recipe); or if you want to bake some cookies now, and freeze some dough for later; or if you’re simply willing 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 fryer.

Cover photo by Meredith Truax.