Are you wanting to try making sugar cookies in your air fryer? Do you need to use parchment paper? Let me demonstrate why it is not necessary.
Should You Use Parchment When Air Frying Sugar Cookies? No. The parchment paper blocks the flow of air too much so that the bottom of the cookies won't be very brown.
Are you looking to try out baking Christmas sugar cookies in your air fryer? In this post, we are going to show you why you would want to do that, why parchment paper isn't necessary, and share a sugar cookie recipe perfect for if you don't have a family favorite one yet.
Jump to:
🌬️ Why Air Fry Sugar Cookies?
There are two reasons I would air fry sugar cookies.
- I don't have a working oven
- I want to eat just a few cookies
When we are in our camper on long trips, we only have the air fryer (our oven doesn't work), so I learned to use it to make different baked goods. The air fryer can't do that many cookies at once, so it takes a while, although the cookies cook quicker. But it is perfect if you want to freeze dough and then pull some out to make a small amount of cookies when the mood strikes you.
📜 Should You Use Parchment Paper?
I decided to do a test of whether you need to use parchment paper in the air fryer. The reasons I would use it were to try and keep the cookies from sticking or to keep them from getting marks on them from the air fryer basket itself.
I cooked some with the paper and some without. Here is what they looked like on the bottom.
The cookie cooked on parchment did not brown very much on the bottom. It also rolled up a little around the edges. When using parchment you have to keep it from being blown around and since I was only testing 2 cookies at a time it wasn't enough weight to keep the paper down.
The cookie cooked just on the air fryer baked up more evenly by a lot and the top and bottom were nicely browned, creating a cookie that was crispy on the outside and still soft on the inside. Yes it does leave marks on the bottom of the cookie but for me it's not a big deal, especially if you decorate the top with sprinkles, icing, or frosting.
🛒 Ingredients
You can use any sugar cookie recipe that you want in the air fryer. Let me share with you the ingredients for the recipe that I used.
- 2 cups Sugar
- 1 cup Butter Softened
- 2 Eggs
- ½ tsp Freshly grated Nutmeg
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ¼ tsp Lemon Extract Substitute zest of 1 lemon
- 6 Tbsp Buttermilk
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 4-4.5 Cups AP Flour
This is my wife's family's favorite recipe. The lemon and nutmeg add some nice flavor to the cookies. Also buy whole nutmeg and grate it yourself.
📋 Instructions
We need to figure out how long to air fry the cookies. This could vary by the type of air fryer you have and you may have to do some trial and error to get it just right. It also depends on how thick your sugar cookies are.
The cookies that we cooked were rolled to between ¼ inch and ½ inch. If yours are thicker, than they will need more time.
Let me show you what my trial and error was like.
I started at 375 for 5 minutes. But that cookie was not as evenly cooked as I wanted and I felt it was too dark. I want them crispy outside and soft inside and this wasn't that.
I reduced the temperature and that was better, but I still felt it was overcooked.
When I air fried at 350 degrees for 4 minutes, it was best. But still the cookie was not flat, it was rolling up at the edges. Then when I tried it without the parchment, it was perfectly cooked.
💡 Tips
- Start by cooking only a couple cookies at a time, until you are sure you have the right timing. I recommend 350 degrees but the time can vary based on your air fryer, your recipe, and how thick the cookies are
- It's important when you air fry the cookies to give them space. The recipe I use that you will find below the cookies don't spread much, which is super helpful in keeping them from touching each other.
🍪 More Cookie Recipes and Tips
I hope that you found this information helpful. Leave a comment below if you did. Also let me share with you some other tips and cookie recipes from the blog.
- How to Help Sugar Cookies Keep Their Shape
- How to Decorate Sugar Cookies Without Frosting
- Pink Peppercorn Sugar Cookie Recipe
- How to Make Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
Air Fryer Sugar Cookies Without Parchment Paper
Ingredients
- 2 cups Sugar
- 1 cup Butter Softened
- 2 Eggs
- ½ tsp Freshly grated Nutmeg
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ¼ tsp Lemon Extract Substitute zest of 1 lemon
- 6 Tbsp Buttermilk
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 4-4.5 Cups AP Flour
Instructions
- Using a stand mixer or handheld mixer, cream sugar and butter together.
- Add eggs, nutmeg, vanilla and lemon and mix.
- Dissolve the baking soda into the buttermilk, and add to mixture. Mix well.
- Add flour to wet ingredients and mix until dough forms.
- Dump dough onto a piece of plastic wrap or into a gallon sized zip top bag and chill for minimum of 2 hours.
- Roll out chilled dough until ¼-1/2in thickness and cut into desired shapes.
- Place cut shapes into the basket of your air fryer. Don't crowd the basket.
- Air Fry at 350 for 4-6 minutes or until cookies are puffy and just barely browned on edges. Watch closely.
- Carefully transfer cookies to a cooling rack and cool completely.
Leave a Reply