Name: Air Fryer Cookies UK - Printable Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 18
Cuisine: English
Ingredients: Large Mixing Bowl; Electric Hand Whisk; Spatula; Spoon or Ice Cream Scoop; Air Fryer *; Cooking Mesh, cut to size (optional) **; Baking/Parchment Paper Liners #; 130g (1/3 Cup + 1/4 Cup) Unsalted Butter, room temp; 90g (1/2 Cup) Soft Light Brown Sugar; 80g (1/3 Cup) Caster Sugar; 1 x Egg, room temp; 1 tsp Vanilla Extract; 1/4 tsp Salt; 310g (2 + 1/4 Cups) Plain Flour; 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda; 280g (1 + 3/4 Cup) Chocolate Chips

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New to baking in your air fryer? Want to make the yummiest air fryer cookies in all the land? This fuss free air fryer chocolate chip cookies recipe is exactly what you need! It’s quick, simple, and you don’t even need to chill the dough. Keep reading to learn all my tips and tricks…

A plate full of air fryer cookies with a napkin

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Yummy air fryer chocolate chip cookies

We all know you can make brilliant air fryer chips, but did you know you can make incredible cookies in your air fryer too?!

You honestly won’t believe how easy it is! Just beat the ingredients together, roll into balls, and bake in your air fryer. You don’t even need to chill the dough like traditional chocolate chip cookies. You just throw them straight in there, and they come out PERFECT!

I’m talking, perfectly golden, crispy on the edges, gooey in the middle, chocolate chip cookies.

And it doesn’t end there. You can even cook these from frozen! Meaning you can have gorgeous homemade cookies whenever you like! Trust me, you need to give this air fryer cookies recipe a go…

Cooked air fryer chocolate chip cookies in an air fryer drawer

Are cookies good in the air fryer?

Absolutely! Air fryer cookies come out just as good as oven baked.

So long as you follow my easy step by step recipe and helpful tips, you’ll be scoffing tasty air fried chocolate chip cookies in no time!

A stack of six air fryer chocolate chip cookies

Do you have to use parchment paper for cookies in an air fryer?

Yes, you do. If you don’t line the bottom of the drawers with baking paper, your cookies will drip through the crisper plate. And things will get VERY messy!

You can buy pre-cut liners in various shapes and sizes (it depends what air fryer you have). Or you can simply cut some to size and poke a few holes into it.

I use these air fryer liners (affiliate link) in my Ninja Foodi Max Dual AF400UK Air Fryer, and they work great.

Cookie dough balls on a lightly floured wooden board

Are cookies better in the oven or air fryer?

Honestly? I think they’re pretty darn similar!

Think about it. An air fryer is basically just a small fan oven. Other than it being smaller, and maybe having to tweak timings and temperatures a little, there really isn’t much of a difference.

Air fryer cookies can be equally as good as oven baked!

Someone taking an air fryer cookie from a wooden board

Do you need to chill the dough before baking?

In this particular air fryer cookies recipe, you do not need to chill the dough before baking. It doesn’t spread very much, so won’t result in flat greasy cookies. Just perfect golden ones!

Air fryer cookies in a loaf tin on a book

Ingredients and substitutions

Confused about what ingredients to buy? Not sure about a substitution? Here’s what you need to know…

Butter – Always use unsalted butter in baking, as it gives you full control of the salt content. If you only have salted, skip adding the extra salt listed in the ingredients.
Brown Sugar – Soft light brown sugar is needed to add that chewy texture in cookies. Personally I wouldn’t substitute this. You can use all caster sugar, but it will affect the texture slightly.
Caster sugar – (Superfine in the US) is needed to get that lovely golden colour. It also spreads more when heated. Hence why the brown/white sugar combo creates the perfect cookie! You can use granulated sugar. But you’ll need to beat it for longer with the butter, to ensure the granules have dissolved.
Egg – Free range organic is what I usually use. But ingredients have gotten very pricey this year! Any medium sized egg will work great.
Vanilla – You can leave this out if you like. But using a high quality vanilla like Little Pod vanilla extract adds a great deal to the overall flavour. Once you’ve tried it, you’ll never go back!
Salt – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… You season your dinner, why not your bakes?! Table salt is fine. Only skip adding it if you’re using salted butter instead of unsalted.
Flour – Regular plain flour (all purpose) is all that’s needed in air fryer cookies. Don’t switch it with self raising or it will mess with the chemistry.
Bicarbonate of Soda – Not to be mistaken for baking powder, bicarb gives your cookies a little lift. Do check that yours is still in date though! (I’m ashamed to say I’ve made that mistake before, and it didn’t end well!)
Chocolate Chips – This is a key flavour in air fryer chocolate chip cookies. Using good quality chocolate will take your cookies from ok to out of this world! My favourite are Guittard milk chocolate baking chips. (affiliate link)

Someone taking an air fryer chocolate chip cookie off a plate

Recipe tips and troubleshooting

Here are tips you’ll find helpful when making this recipe.

Remember to bring refrigerated items to room temperature before baking for the best results. Ingredients blend together SO much better when all at the same temperature.
Using a cooking mesh (affiliate link) that’s cut to the size of your air fryer drawers will make getting baked cookies out SUPER easy!
Unlike other recipes, there is no need to chill this dough before air frying.
Use good quality ingredients for the best flavour. The butter, vanilla and chocolate chips with make a particularly big difference.
Flatten your cookies a little before air frying. As they don’t spread a lot during cooking.
Don’t need a full batch? Make the dough, roll into balls, then freeze for another day. You can cook them straight from frozen for convenience, and to reduce food waste. (see how to cook air fryer cookies from frozen for details.)
Don’t preheat your air fryer with baking paper/parchment in the drawers!!! Without cookies to weigh it down, it will fly around, and probably burn on the heating elements.
Do open the drawers to check on your cookies once or twice during air frying. Just to make sure they’re baking as they should, and that the baking paper is still in place.

Cookie dough balls in an air fryer drawer

Time management

Have limited time? Struggle with recipe timings? Or juggling around other things? Here’s some time managing info to make your life easier.

The dough only takes about 15 minutes to make and roll into balls.
You don’t need to chill the dough before baking.
Your air fryer needs to be preheated for 2 minutes before baking the cookies.
Each batch will take 10 minutes to air fry.
You need to allow a few minutes for the cookies to cool before transferring them to a wire rack.
You can make them in advance and freeze them. Then bake straight from frozen whenever you like.

Someone taking an air fryer chocolate chip cookie from a plate piled high with them

If you like this recipe…

…you might also like:

UK Air Fryer Cookies – Step by Step Picture Recipe

(For a printer friendly version, see the recipe card at the end of this post)

Ingredients

Here is what you will need to make 18-20

130g (1/3 Cup + 1/4 Cup) Unsalted Butter, room temp *
90g (1/2 Cup) Soft Light Brown Sugar
80g (1/3 Cup) Caster Sugar
1 x Egg, room temp
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 tsp Salt
310g (2 + 1/4 Cups) Plain Flour
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
280g (1 + 3/4 Cup) Chocolate Chips

*Forget to take yours out the fridge? Learn how to soften butter quickly.

Essential equipment

Large Mixing Bowl
Electric Hand Whisk
Spatula
Spoon or Ice Cream Scoop
Air Fryer *
Cooking Mesh, cut to size (optional) **
Baking/Parchment Paper Liners #

Notes

*I use a Ninja Foodi Max Dual AF400UK Air Fryer (affiliate link) on the air fry setting.

**Cooking mesh (affiliate link) makes getting baked cookies out the air fryer REALLY easy!

#Or you can cut your own to size and poke holes into it

Instructions

First, cream together the butter (130g | 1/3 Cup + 1/4 Cup), brown sugar (90g | 1/2 Cup), and caster sugar ( 80g | 1/3 Cup) until light and fluffy. When it’s done, the mixture shouldn’t feel grainy anymore.

Butter and sugars creamed together in a bowl

Next, beat in the egg (x 1), vanilla (1 tsp) and salt (1/4 tsp). It should be smooth and shiny.

Butter, sugar, egg, vanilla and salt beaten together in a mixing bowl

Then scrape down the bowl and whisk with a spatula, and fold in the flour (310g | 2 + 1/4 Cups) and bicarbonate of soda (1/2 tsp). Try not to over mix. Continue only until there are no more visible streaks of flour.

Finally, mix through the chocolate chips (280g | 1 + 3/4 Cup). You want them to be evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Chocolate chip cookie dough in a mixing bowl with a spatula

Now it’s time to roll them into balls! There are several ways to do this. Ice cream scoops make great tools here, or you can simply use a spoon. Then roll into balls in your hands, and flatten them a little. (They won’t spread much during baking, so this gives a more ‘cookie’ shape. Rather than a rock cake!)

If you’re a perfectionist like me, weigh each dough ball to 50g (1.76 oz). This ensures perfectly consistent results.

Chocolate chip cookie dough balls on a plate

Preheat your air fryer to 160ºC / 320ºF. (I put mine on the air fry setting at this temperature for 2 minutes.)

To make life easier, line with a cooking mesh that’s been cut to the size of your drawer (optional). Then line with a baking/parchment liner, and top with cookies.

A couple of tips here:

Don’t overcrowd. You will need to air fry in batches.
You may need to cut your liners. I baked 3 at a time and found that excess baking paper flew up and over the cookies, which affected the bake. So I cut the excess off which solved the problem. (see image below)

Chocolate chip cookie dough balls in an air fryer

Bake at 160ºC / 320ºF for 10 minutes. (I used the air fry setting on my Ninja Air Fryer.) It’s ok to open the drawers once or twice to check everything is as it should be.

Six air fryer cookies in a Ninja air fryer

Here’s where the cooking mesh comes in handy! Allow the cookies to cool for a couple of minutes, then lift the baking mesh (with the cookies on it) over to a wire rack. Slide the cookies, still on the baking paper, onto the rack. And allow to cool completely.

Repeat until all your cookies are baked.

Air fryer chocolate chip cookies cooling on a wire rack

Allow your cookies to cool for at least 10 minutes before eating.

How to store air fryer cookies

Cool your air fryer cookies completely, then store in a metal container at room temperature. Consume within 5 days. Although, these are best on the day of air frying.

Someone picking up an air fryer cookie from the top of a stack

How to cook air fryer cookies from frozen

Make the dough as per the recipe, and roll into balls. Then place in a freezer bag or tub, and freeze for up to 3 months.

Air fry them straight from the freezer. Simply bake as per the recipe, but air fry for 11 minutes intead.

Air fryer cookies on a wooden board with chocolate chips scattered around

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