Can You Reheat Cookies In An Air Fryer? What To Expect…


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Air fryers are perfect for all meals and snacks throughout the day, including dessert. You might’ve seen air fryer cookie recipes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re useful for reheating delicious food. Too much time in the air fryer can ruin a good batch, so I’ll show you how and why the timing and temperature are crucial.

You can reheat cookies in an air fryer by setting it to 300 degrees Fahrenheit for two to three minutes. Make sure all of the cookies are lined along the bottom to prevent them from getting too crispy or doughy. This method softens the cookies while preserving their flavor and texture.

In this post, I’ll discuss whether or not you can bake cookies in an air fryer, the best step-by-step method, and the perfect temperature and time for air frying pre-made cookies. You’ll also learn about the ideal arrangement to prevent overcooking or undercooking the dessert.

How To Reheat Cookies In An Air Fryer

Warming up your cookies the right way is no simple task. I always want to be able to serve my cookies as if they’re freshly baked every time, even if they’re a few hours old. I found that warming up my cookies in an air fryer is the best and most efficient way to get them on the table looking fresh as soon as possible.

I recently wrote an article where I talk about the 4 Best Air Fryers on the market right now. Click on this article if you’re looking for a throughout breakdown of these 4 air fryers.

I personally use and recommend the COSORI Smart Wifi Air Fryer. This air fryer has served me for many years and works great for warming up your delicious cookies. This air fryer even has an app that alerts me every time my baked goods are ready while connecting to my Alexa or Google Assistant. Check out this Air Fryer on Amazon!

Reheating cookies in an air fryer:

  • Set the air fryer to 300 degrees Fahrenheit
  • Put as many cookies as possible on the bottom of the air fryer
  • Make sure the cookies do not touch inside the air fryer
  • Leave the cookies in the air fryer for 2-3 minutes
  • Remove the cookies from the air fryer one by one

As a baker, I reheated my cookies many times throughout the years. As a younger baker, I always warmed up my cookies in the oven the old-fashioned way. I often ended up with cookies that are too crispy or not warm enough. There was rarely a balance.

However, with experience, I came to realize that there’s a better much faster way to reheat cookies.

The quick heating air inside an air fryer makes sure to warm up your cookies at a rapid rate while preventing them from becoming too crispy. The air in an air fryer circulates within a much smaller surface area than the air in an oven.

This makes your old, stale, and hard cookies turn into soft, chewy, and great-tasting treats!

*Side Note: You might also want to know How To Properly Store Cookies. I recently wrote an article that talks about all you need to know for Storing Cookies To Make Them Last, which you can check out here!

Can You Bake Cookies in an Air Fryer?

Spread them apart so that they have room to expand!

You can bake cookies in an air fryer by laying parchment paper in the fryer’s basket, layering four or five balls of one-inch cookie dough, then setting the air fryer to 320 degrees Fahrenheit. Leave them for five minutes, remove them from the air fryer, and let them cool for another five minutes before eating them.

Here’s what you should know about baking cookies in an air fryer:

  • You don’t need to bake them nearly as long as you would if you were using an oven. Air fryers don’t leak a lot of heat, unlike an oven. This means the heat is concentrated on the cookies, baking them from the inside out much quicker than you’re used to! In other words, you can’t set and forget them.
  • There might not be as much room for a big batch of cookies, depending on the size of your air fryer. Most air fryers can only hold between four to six cookies. However, I’ll provide a helpful cutting suggestion to get a couple more into the air fryer to increase your batch size.
  • Large chocolate or caramel chunks are prone to melting, so keep an eye on them. It’s best to use chocolate or caramel chips rather than huge chunks. They could bake unevenly, causing them to melt all over the air fryer. This is due to the previously mentioned heat concentration found in most air fryers.
  • Parchment paper is important because it prevents the cookies from burning on the sides of the air fryer. According to Stay Snatched, a thin layer of parchment paper is good for the fryer and your cookies, making it much easier to clean up when you’re done. It also stops the cookies from crumbling too much.
  • Cutting the cookie dough into squares can let you fit more cookies in an air fryer. The aforementioned helpful tip to add more to each cookie batch is all about their shape. Most people make round cookie dough balls, but squaring them is much better. Roll the cookie dough mass onto a cutting board and cut it into squares, then lay them in the air fryer.

These must-know tips will make air frying cookies much easier and more enjoyable. They’ll also help your cookies taste better than ever before. Air frying cookies lets you achieve the perfect combination of a crispy outside and a soft center. For a detailed breakdown of the process, head to the next section.

*By the way, if you want to know The Real Difference Between Foil, Parchment paper, Wax Paper, and Freezer Paper, I wrote an in-depth article breaking down the Similarities and Differences of each one, which you can check out here!

How to Bake Cookies in an Air Fryer?

To bake cookies in an air fryer, follow this tried and true method:

  1. Set the air fryer to 320 degrees Fahrenheit (160 Celsius). This temperature is hot enough to bake them quickly without being too warm. Don’t make the common mistake of setting your air fryer as high as possible to try to bake your cookies in a couple of minutes. You’ll end up with scorched dough and a big mess.
  2. Place the cookie dough on parchment paper in the air fryer for 5 minutes. Again, the parchment paper is crucial to prevent messes, but it also aids the air fryer in evenly cooking the dough. The heat is equally distributed to all of the cookies, making the perfect batch without any outliers.
  3. Put a paper towel on a plate, put the cookies on top, layer another paper towel over them, and leave them for five more minutes. Food LovinFamily recommends letting them sit for a short while to allow them to finish cooking. Most doughy foods continue baking while they’re cooling down for a bit.
  4. Taste test your cookies for texture, flavor, and whether or not they fall apart too easily. Are they crispy enough, or are the outsides too hard? Is there a soft center, or does it feel crunchy all the way through? We all have unique cookie preferences, so make sure you know what combo you’re aiming for.
  5. Start the next batch of cookies while you’re waiting for the first batch to cool down. The first time you make cookies in an air fryer, it’s a good idea to make several batches. Keep trying the same recipe with different layouts and time lengths to figure out what you like the most. You’ll also enjoy tons of cookies in the process!

Following this simple process will help you make the ultimate cookie recipe in any air fryer. Small adjustments to the temperature (no more than 5 degrees Fahrenheit at a time) and time lengths (within one-minute increments) will let you narrow the results until you’re satisfied.

Can You Put Pre-Made Cookies in an Air Fryer?

You can put pre-made cookies in an air fryer, but keep in mind that they’ll take longer and might not taste as good as freshly baked cookies. Nevertheless, there are some very delicious pre-made cookie brands on the market, including Tollhouse.

I’ll break down several tips below:

  • Some pre-made cookies take longer to bake than fresh cookie dough. Air Fryer Fanatics states that pre-made cookie dough tends to be denser than homemade cookie dough. This is because the dough is typically frozen or compacted into a tube, so it takes more time for the heat to get to the center.
  • Set the air fryer to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (163 Celsius). This temperature is a bit higher than baking homemade cookies in an air fryer, but it’s not too high that it’ll burn the dough. It slightly shortens the baking time, but you’ll often wait twice as long for the cookies to thoroughly bake.
  • Check the cookies every five minutes to see if they’re done (they usually take up to 13 minutes or so). Every pre-made cookie dough recipe is different, so there’s not a one-size-fits-all method. In most cases, pre-made cookies take about 10 minutes to bake in an air fryer.
  • Frozen pre-made cookies will take much longer than thawed dough. For the best results, thaw the dough for the company’s recommended time. Air frying frozen dough can alter the taste and texture because the water will loosen and dull the cookies. Let them get to room temperature before placing them on parchment paper in the air fryer.

*Side Note: You might also want to know How To Bake Cookies Without A Cookie Sheet. I recently wrote an article that talks about What Can You Use To Bake Cookies Without A Cookie Sheet, which you can check out here!

To Summarize…

Now that you know how to reheat or bake cookies in an air fryer, you can quickly make them ready to eat without any texture or flavor issues. Remember to layer the cookies properly to keep them from falling apart or hardening too much. Timing, temperature, and placement are essential to top-shelf air fryer cookies.

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Fainna

My name is Fainna! I've been baking desserts ever since I was 10 years old with my grandma passing her baking wisdom down to me with every passing day. I hope you find these tips and tricks helpful here at my little Baking Nook!

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