Light Air Fryer Doughnuts

📝 Ingredients

• 300 g plain flour
• 180 ml semi-skimmed milk (150 ml for the dough, 30 ml for the glaze)
• 7 g dried yeast (1 sachet)
• 1 egg
• 35 g caster sugar
• 1 sachet vanilla sugar (7.5 g)
• 30 g unsalted butter
• 1 pinch of salt
• 120 g icing sugar
• 1 tsp sunflower oil

🍴 Utensils

• Air fryer
• Mixing bowl
• Rolling pin
• 8 cm round cutter
• Pastry brush
• Wire rack

📖 Steps

1. Warm 150 ml milk in the microwave for 20 s: it should feel barely lukewarm to the touch, about 35 °C, never hot, or the yeast will die. Stir in the yeast and 1 tsp sugar, then wait 10 min for a foam to form on the surface.
2. Melt the butter and leave it to cool slightly. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, the rest of the sugar, the vanilla sugar and the salt. Make a well, pour in the yeasted milk, the beaten egg and the melted butter, then mix with a wooden spoon until it forms a ball.
3. Knead for 8 to 10 min on a lightly floured work surface, pushing the dough out with the heel of your hand then folding it back, until smooth, supple and barely sticky. Avoid adding too much flour: a soft dough makes fluffy doughnuts.
4. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for 1 h to 1 h 30 in a warm place, for example in the switched-off oven with the light on, until doubled in size.
5. Knock back the dough by pressing on it, then roll it out to 1.5 cm thick. Cut out rounds with the 8 cm cutter or a glass, then punch out the centre with a bottle top. Gather the scraps, roll them out again and keep cutting until you have 12 doughnuts.
6. Place each doughnut, and each little centre round, on a square of baking paper slightly bigger than it. Cover and leave to rise for 30 to 40 min, until nicely puffed and a gentle press with a finger leaves a dent that springs back slowly.
7. Preheat the air fryer to 170 °C. Lightly brush the tops of the doughnuts with oil and slide them into the basket on their paper, without them touching. Cook for 5 to 6 min (3 min for the little rounds), until golden, in several batches.
8. Whisk the icing sugar with 30 ml milk until you have a smooth glaze, runny but thick enough to coat the spoon. Dip the top of each warm doughnut in the glaze, let the excess drip off, then set them on a wire rack for 10 min, until the glaze sets.