If you’re only using your air fryer to cook chicken and fries, you’re missing out – it’s also an excellent tool for small batch baking, and absolutely perfect for whipping up a quick batch of breakfast muffins. These particular ones are a favorite in my household, and you can jazz them up by swapping the sultanas and seeds for other dried fruit, or even chocolate chunks. For double chocolate muffins, switch the fruit for chocolate and replace a tablespoon of the flour with cocoa powder.
The recipe is similar to banana bread and is a great way to use up fruit that’s gone overripe. If you notice that some of your bananas are starting to turn brown, toss them into your freezer. The night before you want to make your muffins, take some out and leave them to defrost overnight. The skins will have changed color, but that’s fine. When you’re ready to begin baking, cut the top off each defrosted banana and squeeze it into a bowl. During freezing, the water in each banana will have expanded and broken the cell walls, making it soft – it’s still perfectly good, and super easy to mash with a fork.
I baked the muffins using a Cosori TurboBlaze 6L air fryer. If you’re using a different model, you may need to experiment with tweaking the temperature and time slightly, but the recipe is quite forgiving and you don’t need the best air fryer in the world to get good results.
When I asked Margaret Rewers, R&D Culinary Supervisor at Cosori, for some tips on making cakes in an air fryer, she recommended using individual cupcake cases rather than a pan. I used BPA-free silicone cases (you can find similar ones on Amazon for $6.99) which have the advantage of not needing greasing before use.
Ingredients
- 4.4oz / 125g wholemeal flour
- 4.4oz / 125g plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3.5oz / 100g dark brown sugar
- 1 handful sultanas
- 1 handful sunflower seeds
- 3.5fl oz / 100ml vegetable oil
- 4 mashed bananas
- 2 beaten eggs
- 2 tablespoons milk
Method
1. Prepare your air fryer and cases
Start by putting the crisper tray in your air fryer and pre-heating it to 280F / 140C. If you’re using silicone muffin cases, preheat these as well to make sure the bottom of each muffin gets properly cooked. Don’t squish too many cases into the air fryer drawer, otherwise hot air won’t be able to circulate properly. It’s much better to bake in small batches.
2. Combine ingredients
While the air fryer is heating, prepare your muffin batter. Put all your dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, sugar, sultanas, and seeds) into a bowl and mix well, saving a few seeds to decorate the tops of the muffins if you like. Then put the oil, mashed bananas, and beaten egg into a second bowl, and mix thoroughly.
3. Mix wet and dry
Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ones and mix with a wooden spoon until they’re just combined. You shouldn’t be able to see any lumps of flour but don’t over-mix the batter, or gluten will start to develop and the muffins will be tough.
4. Fill your cases
When the air fryer has finished pre-heating, carefully remove your muffin cases (hold each one using an oven glove or towel) and spoon in your mixture. Allow a little space at the top of the case for each one to rise. If you reserved a few seeds, sprinkle them on top before putting the filled cases back in the air fryer drawer. Don’t be tempted to fill the cases while they’re still in the air fryer; any mixture that gets spilled will bake onto the inside of the drawer and be a hassle to clean.
5. Bake your muffins
Bake your muffins at 240F / 140C for 15 minutes. If your air fryer doesn’t have a window, don’t be tempted to open the drawer and take a peek partway through – the muffins will collapse. When the time is up, check to see if the muffins are cooked by poking one in the center with a clean metal skewer. It should come out clean, with no more than a few crumbs on it. If it comes out with batter stuck to it, put the muffins back in for another five minutes, then check again. When they’re done, remove the cases using oven gloves or a kitchen towel over your hand, and put them on a wire rack to cool.
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