2-Ingredient Banana Donut Holes

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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.

While the whole recipe is just below, don’t miss all my tips further down, including ingredient swaps, my cooking tips, and step-by-step shots!

Ingredients

US Customary – Metric

▢½ cup Banana – 1 large banana
▢¾ cup Self-Rising Flour – (note 1)

Coating – to make them taste like donuts!

▢½ teaspoon Cinnamon
▢¼ cup Unrefined Sugar – (note 2)
▢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.

Notes

Note 1: You can also replace the amount above with 1 cup of all-purpose flour stirred with two teaspoons of baking powder. For a gluten-free option, use my gluten-free converter, but don’t forget the baking powder.

Note 2: Feel free to use Monk fruit blend for a sugar-free option, coconut sugar, or unrefined cane sugar.

Storage: You can store the donut holes in an airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature.

Baking: 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.

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

This paragraph gives you all my tips about picking the right ingredients. For the full recipe with measurements, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post!Go to Full Recipe

For this recipe, I am using two main ingredients:

Ingredients for Banana Donut Holes: self-rising flour and banana.

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. For a gluten-free option, use my gluten-free converter, but don’t forget the baking powder.
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.

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.

A bowl with a golden fork, mashed banana and self raising flour.

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.

Banana donut hole in the air fryer basket before being air fried.

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.

Air-fried banana donut holes in a bowl before being coated with cinnamon sugar.

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.

A stack of banana donut holes in a bowl with the front donut half beaten.

Nutrition