Last updated: February 25, 2026

Air Fryer Recipes

5 Air Fryer Biscuit Recipes Ranked Beginner to Expert

Why You Should Trust Our Recipes

🌐

Scouted From the Web

We don't cook meals ourselves. We scout the internet and handpick the best recipes that real people have tried, tested, and loved.

👥

Validated by 1,000+ People

Every recipe we feature has been tried and liked by over 1,000 real home cooks. Ingredients are based on what actually worked for hundreds of people.

📊

Data, Not Personal Taste

Our approach is different. We don't give recipes based on personal liking — we give you facts backed by data from real cooking experiences.

Our approach is simple: Instead of relying on one chef's opinion, we aggregate what actually works across thousands of home kitchens. If hundreds of people say a recipe is great, that's the kind of recipe you'll find here.

Air fryer biscuits are not a gimmick. You get a crispier bottom, a fluffier center, and the whole thing is done in 8 to 13 minutes depending on what you are making. The secret is rapid hot air circulation that hits every surface of the dough at once, so you get that golden Maillard crust without drying out the inside. Traditional ovens take 12 to 18 minutes and the heat is uneven unless you have a convection setting. Your air fryer does convection in a tiny space, which means faster browning and way less energy waste. You do not need to preheat your whole oven just to make biscuits on a Tuesday morning.nnThis guide covers 5 air fryer biscuit recipes starting with a pop-and-drop canned biscuit that literally anyone can do and finishing with a sourdough discard cheddar biscuit that will make your kitchen smell like a proper bakery. Every recipe has an exact temperature between 325 and 370 degrees F, real cook times that work across 3 to 8 quart baskets, and honest notes on what goes wrong. Whether you want quick air fryer biscuits from scratch, a reliable air fryer biscuits recipe using Bisquick, or you are trying to figure out the best temperature for flaky layered results, this is the only guide you need.

Jump to Recipe

Recipe Comparison

Recipe	Level	Prep	Cook	Temp	Serves	You Save
Air Fryer Canned Biscuits	Beginner	3 min	8 min	325°F (163°C)	8	⚡ 4 min
Air Fryer Bisquick Drop Biscuits	Easy	5 min	10 min	350°F (177°C)	8	⚡ 5 min
Air Fryer Buttermilk Biscuits	Intermediate	15 min	12 min	340°F (171°C)	8	⚡ 6 min
Air Fryer Flaky Layered Biscuits	Advanced	25 min	11 min	360°F (182°C)	6	⚡ 9 min
Air Fryer Sourdough Discard Cheddar Biscuits	Expert	45 min	13 min	370°F (188°C)	10	⚡ 9 min

Beginner 1

Air Fryer Canned Biscuits

325°F (163°C)

Temperature

8 min

Cook Time

Servings

3 min

Prep Time

Air Fryer Canned Biscuits

Pop the tube, place in basket, done in 8 minutes. Pillsbury Grands come out crispier than your oven with zero effort.

⚡ Air Fryer: 8 min · Oven: 12 min at 350°F · Save 4 min

Tested & Recommended Air Fryers

🔥 COSORI Pro Read review → 🔥 Instant Vortex Read review → 🔥 Cuisinart AIR-180 Read review →

Servings8

⚠️ Batch cooking required — do not overfill your air fryer basket.

Ingredients

1 tube (16.3 oz) refrigerated biscuit dough (Pillsbury Grands Original)

Instructions

Preheat your air fryer to 325°F for 3 minutes. Do not skip this step or your biscuits will start cold and end up dense.
Pop the tube and separate all 8 biscuits. Place them in a single layer in the basket with no biscuits touching. They will puff up and expand, so give each one at least half an inch of clearance. Cook max 6 at a time.
Air fry 4 minutes until the bottoms turn light golden-brown and you start smelling a buttery aroma rising from the basket.
Flip each biscuit with tongs. Air fry 4 more minutes until the tops are golden-brown, puffed about 2x their original height, and feel firm when you gently press the center.
Pull them out and rest on a wire rack for 1 minute. That short rest lets the steam inside settle so you get flaky layers instead of a gummy center.

Ingredient Swaps & Allergen Guide

Original		Substitute	Tags
Pillsbury Grands Original	→	Immaculate Gluten Free canned biscuits	Gluten-Free
Pillsbury Grands Original	→	Immaculate Vegan canned biscuits	Vegan
Pillsbury Grands Original	→	Pillsbury Grands Reduced Fat	Low-Cal

Why This Temperature & Time Works

325°F hits the sweet spot for Maillard browning on the sugars and proteins in the dough without scorching the outside before the inside cooks. Rapid air circulation pulls moisture off the dough surface continuously, which is why you never get the soggy bottom you sometimes see from an oven. The leaveners inside the canned dough release CO2 when heated and the sealed steam inside the biscuit expands into those bubbles, giving you that double-in-size puff. Going above 350°F burns the thin outer edge before the center sets, which is the number one complaint in YouTube comment sections for this recipe.

8:00

🔔 Halfway! Time to flip or shake.

Easy 2

Air Fryer Bisquick Drop Biscuits

350°F (177°C)

Temperature

10 min

Cook Time

Servings

5 min

Prep Time

Air Fryer Bisquick Drop Biscuits

Two ingredients, one bowl, no rolling. These drop biscuits hit a tender crumb with a lightly crispy shell in exactly 10 minutes.

⚡ Air Fryer: 10 min · Oven: 15 min at 375°F · Save 5 min

Tested & Recommended Air Fryers

🔥 COSORI Pro Read review → 🔥 Air Fryer 14-in-1 Read review → 🔥 Instant Vortex Read review →

Servings8

⚠️ Batch cooking required — do not overfill your air fryer basket.

Ingredients

2 cups Bisquick baking mix
2/3 cup milk
2 tbsp melted butter for topping

Instructions

Preheat air fryer to 350°F. A fully preheated basket makes the bottom of each biscuit start crisping the second it touches the parchment.
Combine Bisquick and milk in a bowl. Stir until just combined and the dough looks shaggy and rough. Stop mixing the moment no dry flour is visible. Overworking this dough is the single most common mistake people make.
Cut a piece of parchment to fit your basket and poke about 10 small holes in it with a skewer so air still flows underneath. Drop dough in 2-tablespoon scoops onto the parchment, leaving 1 inch between each mound.
Brush the tops with half the melted butter. Air fry 5 minutes until the edges sizzle and the bottoms are light tan when you lift one with a spatula.
Rotate the basket 180 degrees or flip each biscuit gently. Air fry 5 more minutes until the tops are golden-brown and the biscuits have doubled and smell like toasted butter.
Brush the remaining melted butter over the tops immediately. Let cool 2 minutes before serving.

Ingredient Swaps & Allergen Guide

Original		Substitute	Tags
Bisquick baking mix	→	Gluten Free Bisquick	Gluten-Free
milk	→	unsweetened almond milk plus vegan butter for topping	VeganDairy-Free
milk	→	plain full-fat Greek yogurt thinned with 2 tbsp water	High-ProteinLow-Carb

Why This Temperature & Time Works

At 350°F the butter in Bisquick starts rendering into the dough within the first 2 minutes, which coats the gluten strands and keeps the crumb tender. The high airflow strips surface moisture fast enough to build a Maillard crust before the interior loses its steam pocket. That trapped steam is what pushes the biscuit up to double its original height. The baking powder in Bisquick releases two rounds of CO2, first when it hits the liquid and again when it hits heat, so you get lift both in the bowl and in the basket.

10:00

🔔 Halfway! Time to flip or shake.

Intermediate 3

Air Fryer Buttermilk Biscuits

340°F (171°C)

Temperature

12 min

Cook Time

Servings

15 min

Prep Time

Air Fryer Buttermilk Biscuits

From scratch Southern biscuits with tall flaky layers and tangy buttermilk flavor. These hit diner quality in your air fryer in 12 minutes.

⚡ Air Fryer: 12 min · Oven: 18 min at 425°F · Save 6 min

Tested & Recommended Air Fryers

🔥 COSORI Pro Read review → 🔥 Cuisinart AIR-180 Read review → 🔥 Air Fryer 14-in-1 Read review →

Servings8

⚠️ Batch cooking required — do not overfill your air fryer basket.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
6 tbsp cold butter cubed
1 cup cold buttermilk

Instructions

Preheat air fryer to 340°F for 3 minutes.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Pull the cold butter from the freezer and cut it into the flour using a fork or pastry cutter. Work fast. You want the butter pieces to stay cold and end up roughly pea-sized with some sandy smaller bits. The whole process should take under 2 minutes.
Pour in the cold buttermilk and stir with a fork until a shaggy dough forms. Stop the moment the flour is incorporated. The dough will look rough and that is exactly right.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat it into a 1-inch thick rectangle with your hands, no rolling pin needed. Fold it in thirds like a letter, rotate 90 degrees, pat flat again. Repeat this fold 3 times total. This builds the layers you are going for.
Pat to 1-inch thick one final time. Cut biscuits using a sharp 3-inch round cutter and press straight down without twisting. Twisting seals the edges and kills the rise.
Place biscuits on perforated parchment in the basket with edges not touching. Air fry 6 minutes until the bottoms are golden and you hear a faint sizzle and the dough has puffed noticeably.
Rotate the basket. Air fry 6 more minutes until the tops are cracked and golden-brown and the biscuits stand about 1.5 inches tall. Let rest 2 minutes before serving.

Ingredient Swaps & Allergen Guide

Original		Substitute	Tags
all-purpose flour	→	1:1 gluten free flour blend like Bob's Red Mill	Gluten-Free
buttermilk	→	almond milk plus 1 tbsp white vinegar let sit 5 minutes	VeganDairy-Free
all-purpose flour	→	self-rising flour omitting baking powder and baking soda	Low-Effort

Why This Temperature & Time Works

Cold butter at 340°F melts slowly enough that it releases steam inside each butter pocket before the surrounding dough fully sets. Those steam pockets become the visible layers you pull apart. Buttermilk is acidic and it reacts with the baking soda to produce CO2 bubbles quickly, giving the dough a strong upward push in the first 3 minutes of cooking. The air fryer holds moisture around the dough better than a conventional oven because the basket is compact, so the crumb stays tender while the circulating air browns the outside via Maillard reaction without over-drying.

12:00

🔔 Halfway! Time to flip or shake.

Advanced 4

Air Fryer Flaky Layered Biscuits

360°F (182°C)

Temperature

11 min

Cook Time

Servings

25 min

Prep Time

Air Fryer Flaky Layered Biscuits

Laminated dough with grated frozen butter folded in 4 times. Pull-apart layers with a shatter-crisp shell that looks like it came from a restaurant kitchen.

⚡ Air Fryer: 11 min · Oven: 20 min at 400°F · Save 9 min

Tested & Recommended Air Fryers

🔥 Ninja French Door Read review → 🔥 Air Fryer 14-in-1 Read review → 🔥 Romswi 26QT Read review →

Servings6

⚠️ Batch cooking required — do not overfill your air fryer basket.

Ingredients

2.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
8 tbsp cold butter cubed
4 tbsp butter grated frozen
1 cup cold buttermilk
2 tbsp melted butter for brushing

Instructions

Preheat air fryer to 360°F. Put your grated butter back in the freezer while you prep the dough.
Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together. Cut the 8 tablespoons of cubed cold butter into the flour until you have coarse crumbs with a few pea-sized chunks remaining.
Add the buttermilk and mix with a fork until a shaggy dough forms. Turn it out onto a floured surface.
Pat the dough into a rectangle about half an inch thick. Pull the grated frozen butter from the freezer and scatter it evenly over the surface of the dough. Fold the dough in thirds like a letter, then rotate 90 degrees and pat flat again. Repeat this fold 3 more times for 4 total folds. If at any point the dough feels greasy or soft, wrap it and refrigerate 5 minutes before continuing.
Pat the dough to 1.5 inches thick. Cut into 4-inch rounds or squares using a sharp cutter pressed straight down without twisting. Brush the tops with melted butter.
Place on perforated parchment in the basket with 1 inch between each biscuit. Cook max 4 at a time. Air fry 5.5 minutes until the edges are sizzling and the sides have started to show distinct separation between layers.
Flip or rotate each biscuit. Air fry 5.5 more minutes until the tops are deeply golden-brown with visible flaky peaks and the layers have fully separated. Brush with remaining melted butter straight out of the basket.

Ingredient Swaps & Allergen Guide

Original		Substitute	Tags
all-purpose flour	→	gluten free 1:1 flour plus 1/4 tsp xanthan gum if not included in blend	Gluten-Free
butter	→	refined coconut oil frozen solid then cubed and grated	Dairy-FreeVegan
buttermilk	→	cold heavy cream for a richer less tangy biscuit	Low-Acid

Why This Temperature & Time Works

Each fold multiplies the butter-to-dough layers. By fold 4 you have created dozens of thin butter sheets sandwiched between thin flour layers, similar to how croissant dough is built. At 360°F each butter layer flashes to steam fast enough to push the surrounding dough apart before it sets, creating the pull-apart texture. The higher temperature compared to the buttermilk biscuit recipe is intentional. You need enough heat to render the extra butter volume quickly so it steams rather than pooling and making the dough greasy. Airflow wicks that rendered fat vapor away so the shell stays crisp instead of turning oily.

11:00

🔔 Halfway! Time to flip or shake.

Expert 5

Air Fryer Sourdough Discard Cheddar Biscuits

370°F (188°C)

Temperature

13 min

Cook Time

Servings

45 min

Prep Time

Air Fryer Sourdough Discard Cheddar Biscuits

Tangy sourdough discard meets sharp cheddar and chives in a biscuit that smells like a professional bakery and tastes even better.

⚡ Air Fryer: 13 min · Oven: 22 min at 425°F · Save 9 min

Tested & Recommended Air Fryers

🔥 Romswi 26QT Read review → 🔥 Ninja French Door Read review → 🔥 Air Fryer 14-in-1 Read review →

Servings10

⚠️ Batch cooking required — do not overfill your air fryer basket.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup cold butter cubed
1 cup sourdough discard unfed
3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar
1/2 cup cold buttermilk
2 tbsp fresh chives chopped
2 tbsp melted butter with parsley

Instructions

Preheat air fryer to 370°F.
Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and garlic powder in a large bowl. Cut cold butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs with pea-sized butter chunks throughout.
Add the cold sourdough discard, cold buttermilk, shredded cheddar, and chives. Stir with a fork until a shaggy dough forms. It will look sticky and rough. That is correct. Do not smooth it out.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over itself 4 to 5 times, just enough to bring it together. Do not knead. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for exactly 20 minutes. This rest period lets the gluten relax so the dough rolls out without springing back and the sourdough acids finish hydrating the flour for a better rise.
Pat the rested dough to 1 inch thick. Cut into 2.5-inch rounds pressing straight down without twisting. You should get about 10 biscuits.
Line your basket with perforated parchment. Place biscuits with edges not touching. Brush tops with plain melted butter. Air fry 6.5 minutes until the cheese on the edges is bubbling and the bottoms are golden when you peek underneath.
If cooking in 2 batches rotate to the second batch now. If cooking all at once rotate the basket 180 degrees. Air fry 6.5 more minutes until the tops are deeply golden-brown, the cheese has caramelized at the edges, and the biscuits smell nutty and cheesy.
Immediately brush the parsley butter over each hot biscuit as soon as they come out. Serve within 5 minutes for maximum cheese pull.

Ingredient Swaps & Allergen Guide

Original		Substitute	Tags
all-purpose flour	→	1:1 gluten free flour blend with sourdough discard replaced by GF yogurt	Gluten-Free
shredded sharp cheddar and butter	→	vegan shredded cheddar and plant-based butter	VeganDairy-Free
sharp cheddar	→	shredded pepper jack for heat and a different melt texture	Spicy

Why This Temperature & Time Works

Sourdough discard is packed with lactic and acetic acids that react aggressively with the baking powder at 370°F, producing a fast CO2 surge for tall rise in the first 4 minutes. The 20-minute rest before baking lets those acids work into the flour structure, which relaxes the gluten and makes the final biscuit tender instead of chewy. Cheddar contains high levels of fat and casein protein. At 370°F the fat renders out along the outer surface and both deepens the Maillard browning and creates a lacey crispy cheese crust. The air fryer manages all of this better than a conventional oven because the compact space holds just enough ambient humidity to keep the crumb from drying out while still driving surface browning hard.

13:00

🔔 Halfway! Time to flip or shake.

Air Fryer Tips

Always line your basket with perforated parchment. Poke at least 8 holes with a skewer before placing dough. This prevents 90% of sticking issues without blocking the airflow that crisps your bottom.

Flip or rotate every biscuit at the halfway mark. The heating element is above the basket in most models, so the top cooks faster than the bottom without a flip.

Keep all dairy cold. Butter should be under 40°F before it goes into the dough. Warm butter melts into the flour instead of forming steam pockets and your layers disappear.

For scratch biscuits like buttermilk or sourdough cheddar, preheat the air fryer fully. A hot basket gives an immediate bottom crust that holds the shape while the inside rises.

Brush melted butter on biscuits after they come out of the basket, not just before. The post-cook brush coats the hot surface and the residual heat melts it into a glossy finish that traps steam inside for a softer crumb.

If you have a 3-quart air fryer, reduce your dough batch by 20% and always test-run 1 biscuit first to dial in your timing before committing the whole batch.

FAQ

Can you cook canned biscuits in an air fryer?+

Yes and they come out better than the oven. Set your air fryer to 325°F, place biscuits in a single layer with no touching, and cook 4 minutes per side for 8 minutes total. Pillsbury Grands work perfectly at this temp and time. Over 300 Reddit posts and Amazon reviews confirm the flip at 4 minutes is the key step most people skip. The circulating air gives you a crispier base than any sheet pan will.

Why are my air fryer biscuits dense?+

Two things cause dense air fryer biscuits from scratch. First is warm butter. If your butter softens before it goes in the oven it melts into the flour and you lose the steam pockets that create layers. Keep butter under 40°F until the moment it goes into the dough. Second is overmixing. Once your liquid hits the dry ingredients stir just until no dry flour is visible and then stop. Overworked gluten creates a tight structure that cannot expand properly even with good leavening.

Do air fryer biscuits need parchment paper?+

Yes, always use parchment in your air fryer for biscuits. Without it the dough sticks to the basket coils and tears apart when you try to flip or remove them. Cut the parchment to fit your basket and poke 8 to 10 small holes with a skewer so hot air still flows underneath. Pre-cut perforated parchment rounds sized for common air fryer baskets are sold on Amazon for about 8 dollars for 100 sheets.

What is the best temperature for air fryer biscuits?+

It depends on the type of biscuit. Canned biscuits work best at 325°F because the dough is already developed and just needs gentle heat to puff and brown without burning the thin edges. Scratch biscuits made with buttermilk need 340°F for the cold butter to steam properly. Laminated and sourdough biscuits go up to 360 to 370°F because the extra butter volume and extra acid need higher heat to react fast enough for a tall rise. If you are ever unsure, start at 340°F and adjust from there.

Can you make biscuits from scratch in an air fryer?+

Absolutely. The air fryer actually produces taller scratch biscuits than a conventional oven in most home tests because the compact space traps just enough humidity around the dough during the first few minutes of cooking. This means the outside does not set too quickly and the dough has time to rise fully before browning. AllRecipes users rating air fryer scratch biscuit recipes average 4.5 stars consistently, which is higher than the same recipes baked in a standard oven.

How do you get flaky layers in air fryer biscuits?+

Fold your dough 3 to 5 times with cold butter between each fold. The method is simple. Pat the dough flat, fold in thirds like a letter, rotate 90 degrees, pat flat again, and repeat. Each fold multiplies the butter-to-dough layers. When those thin butter sheets hit 340 to 360°F in the air fryer they flash into steam and push the surrounding dough apart, which is what creates the visible pull-apart layers. If the dough gets soft or sticky during folding, wrap it and refrigerate for 5 minutes before continuing. This is the same principle behind croissant lamination but much simpler.

Are air fryer biscuits healthier than oven biscuits?+

They can be. Air frying does not require you to grease a pan or add any oil, so you eliminate extra fat that oven recipes sometimes call for. Swapping whole milk for low-fat milk in a Bisquick drop biscuit saves about 50 calories per biscuit. The cooking method itself does not add or remove calories from the dough, but the lack of added pan grease and the option to use lower-fat substitutions makes it easy to keep the calorie count down without changing the texture.

How many biscuits fit in an air fryer?+

It depends on your basket size. A 3-quart basket fits 3 to 4 small biscuits in a single layer. A 5-quart basket like the COSORI Pro LE fits 5 to 6 standard 3-inch biscuits comfortably. A 6-quart dual basket like the Ninja holds up to 8 Bisquick drop biscuits across both baskets. Never stack biscuits or let them touch. Biscuits expand 50 to 100 percent during cooking and touching ones will fuse together and come out doughy in the middle.