These 2-Ingredient Banana Donut Holes are easy air fryer banana bread treats perfect to fix your banana bread craving in less than 15 minutes.
In my house, we are big fans of my eggless banana bread recipe, but sometimes, I don’t feel like waiting an hour to enjoy banana bread. So I created this air fryer donut hole with just two ingredients.
It’s a similar recipe to my vegan baked blueberry donuts, except that these donut holes don’t require a pan, just like my Lemon Donuts or my Air Fryer Churros, but unlike my Vegan Beignets. The idea is to enjoy healthier donuts that are baked, not fried, and vegan.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Quick and Easy – ready in 15 minutes
- Healthier
- Yeast-free
- Not fried and low in saturated fat
- Egg-free
- Dairy-free
- Vegan
- Made with 2 ingredients like my Air Fryer Donut Holes
Ingredients and Substitutions
For this recipe, I am using two main ingredients:
- Self-Raising Flour – It’s essentially all-purpose flour that already contains baking powder. If you don’t have this ingredient available, swap the cup of self-raising flour for 1 cup of all-purpose flour, to which you add two teaspoons of baking powder. I didn’t try gluten-free all-purpose flour, but I assume most brands should work in this recipe.
- Ripe Banana– You need a large banana, and my expert tip for success is first to mash the banana, then measure the amount by packing the mashed banana in a cup. You need 1/2 cup, not less, not more, or the ratio of flour will be different.
Optional Ingredients Suggested
For a boost of flavor, stir in the dough some of the following:
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon of salt
- 2-3 tablespoons of brown sugar or coconut sugar for a sweeter donut recipe.
Preparation
It’s faster to make the banana donut dough in a stand mixer, but it also works well in a large bowl using a fork and spoon.
- Mash the banana into fine puree using a fork, measure 1/2 cup, and then stir the cup of flour using the paddle attachment or a silicone spatula. If you work the dough by hand, you will have to knead the dough and grease your hand as it can be a bit sticky. The dough should resemble pizza dough: elastic, a bit moist and sticky but easy to shape into balls.
- Grease your hand with avocado oil, roll small golf-size balls of dough then release on the air fryer basket, leaving a thumb space between each. You should make 8 donut holes. Spray with more oil then air fry at 350°F (180°C) for 7 minutes.
- After being air-fried, the banana donut holes look a bit rocky on the edge and dry, and that’s normal. Now, the balls reassemble dry balls of banana bread.
- To make them taste like donuts, melt butter or coconut oil. First, brush the warm donut hole with avocado oil or melted vegan butter until all sides are covered. Then, add sugar or sugar-free Monk fruit blend and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Roll the warm donut hole in the dry ingredients to coat evenly.
Dipping or Glazing Donut Holes
The best way to serve these banana donut holes is with some dipping sauce, try:
- Date Caramel
- Chia seed jam
- Vegan ganache
- Vegan Lemon curd
- Melted dark chocolate
Or simply glaze the doughnut holes with my vegan royal icing recipe.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can place each ball of dough in a mini muffin pan. grease the muffin pan with cooking spray before placing a ball in each cavity. Bake them in an oven preheated to 350°F (180°C) for about 15 minutes or until golden brown and baked in the center.
The oil, or melted plant-based butter, allows the cinnamon sugar to stick to the warm donuts. You can brush the donut holes with maple syrup and sprinkle cinnamon for an oil-free and refined sugar-free option.
Protein powder is highly liquid absorbent, and adding some will impact the flour you need. You must reduce flour, resulting in denser, packed dough holes. There’s an alternative though, you can make my Peanut Butter Protein Donuts for a protein powder-free version!
More Vegan Treats
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Banana Donut Holes
Ingredients
- ½ cup Banana - 1 large banana
- ¾ cup Self-Rising Flour - (note 2)
Coating – to make them taste like donuts!
- ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
- ¼ cup Sugar - (note 3)
- 2 tablespoons Coconut Oil - melted, or melted vegan butter
To work the dough/knead
- 2-3 teaspoon Melted Coconut Oil
Instructions
- Mash the banana into a smooth puree, make sure you get 1/2 cup or the donut batter won't come together with the same ratio of flour.
- Add in the flour and stir with a rubber spatula at first, until it starts to form lumps. Now, oil your hands and knead with your slightly oiled hands to form a dough ball. The dough is sticky and moist, but that's normal don't over-add flour! If it sticks to the finger, keep kneading, using a bit of oil to smooth the dough and form a ball. Eventually, if it's really too moist add up to a max of 2-3 tablespoons or the dough turns bready. You should work this dough like foccacia, using oil to avoid sticking to finges and shape, but the dough should stay moist and elastic, not saturated by flour.
- Grease your hand with melted coconut oil, grab about a tablespoon of dough, roll it into a ball, and place it on a plate covered with parchment paper. Repeat until all the dough has been turned into balls. Spray avocado oil on top of the balls.
- Spray oil in the air fryer basket and place the oiled donut holes in the basket, leaving 1 inch (3 cm) apart as they expand.
- Air fry at 350°F (180°C) for 6-7 minutes or until puffy and golden brown. They will have a rocky shape and be dry outside, and some will not be as round as balls; that's normal.
- To make these banana bread balls taste like donuts, brush each warm ball with melted coconut oil using a pastry brush. Then, roll the warm, oiled balls into cinnamon sugar to coat evenly.
- Serve warm immediately.
Easy to make.
Absolutely stunning! I included all the extras in the dough- the cinnamon, vanilla, salt, and brown sugar and my family said it was one of the best treats they’ve ever eaten and they were gone within minutes! I even tried adding chopped nuts folded into the dough balls… perfection. I cannot wait to try again!
These were so easy and delicious! Thank you!
I can’t use flour, any type of keto flour? Or gluten free flour?
It didn’t come out great with almond flour, it stays very soft. Maybe all-purpose self-rising gluten-free flour could work.
Got the recipe in my IG inbox as requested, thankyou. Made these as per the recipe, I ended up with 8 balls. I used melted butter and cinnamon sugar to roll them in and they were delicious. Thanks again.
I’m not a huge banana fan, but these seemed simple enough that I had to try it out. I will say these are just WOW! I had to stop myself from eating them all!
Very simple and quick recipe. I used the suggestion for all purpose flour and baking powder. I also added the salt, vanilla, and Cinnamon to the dough (but honestly just eye-balled the amount on those)
These will DEFINITELY be made many many more times. Thanks for the awesome recipe!!
Dying to try these. Can I substitute the avocado oil with olive oil?
Sure, any oil works, but olive oil may add a stronger flavor.
These look amazing! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Can you also bake these in the oven? If so what do you suggest? Thank you
Yes you can bake them on a lined baking sheet in preheat oven 350 F. Bake for 15-18 min or until golden brown
Can you use almond flour or coconut flour to make these?
No sorry it won’t work at all
Just made these today cause I had some ripe bananas that needed to be used. I didn’t have self rising flour so I followed your suggestion in the comments about using regular flour and baking powder. They turned out well and were a tasty addition to breakfast. My 3 year old loved them and loved making them with me.