You are bound to love this quick and easy air fryer bread with the gorgeous crust coupled with super tender and soft crumbs. If you are a small family, skip the oven and make bread in an air fryer to perfection in very few simple steps. Be it dinner rolls, a white sandwich loaf, or a no-knead batard, you can bake everything in your air fryer.
We all make air fryer bread toast, but toady let’s take a step back and make a bread loaf in it. Like the instant pot bread, this is going to be a start-to-finish bread in an air fryer. Yeah! Skip air fryer appetizers and bake this easy air fryer bread.
Follow along and make it your go-to way to bake small loaves of bread.
What will you like about this air fryer bread?
- Easy bread recipe with just 4 ingredients for making bread in an air fryer.
- An air fryer quick bread recipe that is ready in under 4 hours.
- No need to wait for your oven to preheat to bake the bread. Air fryer cook bread very fast like any other air fryer recipe.
- Do not need to run a big oven for making a small loaf of bread.
- This is an eggless bread recipe.
- This air fryer bread loaf is fluffy and pillowy with Soft and tender crumbs.
- Can easily be made vegan by substituting whole milk with vegan milk and butter with vegan butter or margarine.
Jump to:
🧂Ingredients for making bread in an air fryer
Bread flour:
Bread flour can be replaced with all-purpose flour but this recipe will not work as such. You will have to reduce the amount of water. Please do not use this recipe as such if you use whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour.
Then you would be complaining about the dough not coming together, being too wet, too difficult to handle, and all. Please use bread flour to replicate the results of this recipe.
Instant dry yeast
I have used instant yeast as it is fast acting and makes quick bread. But you can surely use active dry yeast. If you are using instant dry yeast, it needs to be bloomed in warm milk with sugar before adding it to the flour.
You can also make an air fryer bread without yeast if you want. You use one of my sourdough bread recipes and make the air fryer sourdough bread.
Whole milk:
Whole milk act as a tenderizer as well as a hydrant. You can replace it with any plant-based milk of your choice for making vegan air fryer bread. The best alternative would be oat milk or soy milk.
Salt
Salt is the only flavor that we are adding to this simple white bread that we will be making in an air fryer.
Though we can add a whole lot of seeds and other flavorings, this time I have kept this recipe simple. Once you make it successfully try experimenting with various other flavors, grains, and flour mixtures. You can also add 2 tablespoons unsalted butter if you want to have a buttery taste to the loaf.
🍶Equipment required for making air fryer bread
Mini Loaf pan
This is a small recipe, you can make two mini loaves or 8-9 dinner rolls placed in an 8-inch circular or square cake pan, depending on the shape of your air fryer and whatever can easily fit in your air fryer basket.I used a 5 ¾ x 3 x 2 inches mini loaf pan.
You can simply put the dough balls on parchment paper inside the air fryer basket.
Air fryer
I have used an 8 qt Bella Pro air fryer that is circular. But if you use something like a Cosori air fryer which is squarish in shape use a square cake pan for making dinner rolls.
🔪How to make bread in an air fryer
Step 1 Make the dough
Start by combining all the dry ingredients, i.e. bread flour, instant yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Use a whisk to combine them well. Now add milk to the dry ingredients.
Now, use the back of a ladle to combine all the ingredients into a dough mass. When you reach a point where the ladle cannot help to combine the dough any further, scrape the dough from the ladle and place it aside. It is time to knead bread dough with hands.
Now flip the bowl on a work surface. Use a bench scraper to scrape the flour stuck to the sides of the bowl.
Start kneading the dough with your hands. First, combine all the dry patches of flour into one dough mass. Then grab the dough with your fingers and pull it up. Then slap it on the counter (work surface) while folding it over.
By doing this you will be working on the gluten and also aerating the dough. Keep repeating till the dough starts to come together and becomes less sticky.
The total kneading time should be around 8-10 minutes. I know it is tiring, so you can take a break in between. Just cover the dough with the inverted large bowl. Then come back and start kneading, until the dough becomes smooth and supple. You know that the dough is ready when it no longer sticks to your fingers and has a smooth finish.
Kneading in a stand mixer
Combine all the dry and wet ingredients in the bowl of the stand mixer. Now fix the dough hook attachment and start kneading at low speed (2 for KitchenAid) and keep kneading until the dough comes together and starts to leave the sides of the bowl. It should take about 8-9 minutes. Then bump up the speed to high (6 on KitchenAid) and knead for 2 more minutes. The dough should become smooth by now.
Dough for making bread in the air fryer should not be sticky and should be smooth to the touch.
Step 2 Bulk Fermentation
Now, put the dough in a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough proof in a warm corner of your kitchen. In winter you can also place it in an oven with lights turned on. You can also poof it in the air fryer basket.
Bulk ferment the dough until it becomes double in volume. It would take about 2 hours on a cold day and 60-90 minutes on a warm day.
Since we are using instant yeast, it should take less time than the live yeast or dry yeast dough. So, adjust your timeline depending on the type of leavening agent used. It is always better to go by the volume of the dough risen than by any timeline as the ambient temperature highly influences the fermentation.
Step 3 Shaping the bread loaf
When the dough has doubled in volume, punch it to deflate and remove on onto a flour-dusted work surface. Now gather the dough edges to make a large round of the dough.
Shaping 2 mini air fryer bread loaves
They divide it into 2 equal parts using a bench scraper.
Now take one part and use the tip of your hands to flatten it and form it into a rectangular sheet. The width of the dough sheet should be about one and a half inches (1) less than the length of your loaf pan. I am using a 5 ¾ x3 inch loaf pan. So, I kept the width of the dough sheet at 4 ¾ inches.
You can also use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a rectangular sheet. Now start rolling the dough sheet into a tight log while rolling the sheet gently. Carefully lift the air fryer loaf and place it in a greased loaf pan.
Repeat with the second piece of dough. If you do not have two mini loaf pans, you can make the remaining dough into 4 dinner rolls (read below).
Shaping air fryer bread rolls
This recipe will be perfect to make 8-9 dinner rolls. In such cases use 8 inches circular or square cake pan.
Divide the dough into 8 equal parts. Take one part and gather all the edges and seal at the center. Now flip the dough to roll using the side of your palms and make it into a round ball.
Keep aside and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Repeat with the remaining dough pieces.
Take an 8 or 9-inch cake pan and grease it with butter. Now place all the dough balls in it keeping room for dough expansion. You could also place the dinner rolls on parchment paper and put them in the air fryer basket. Cover it with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap.
Step 4 Proofing the loaf
Now cover the loaf pan with an oiled cling wrap and let it proof in a warm corner of your kitchen. When the dough rises about an inch well above the rim of the loaf pan at the center of the pan, it is ready for baking.
If making dinner rolls, the dough balls should have doubled in volume. That’s when they are ready to be baked in an air fryer.
Step 5 Baking bread in air fryer
Set the air fryer temperature to 300 oF and set the timer to 4 minutes and let the air fryer run with an empty basket.
Then place the loaf pan in the basket of the air fryer and set the timer for 12 minutes at 300 oF
Now, air fry bread for 10 minutes then pull out the air fryer basket to check how much more cook time the bread requires.
Each air fryer is different, and the exact time required to cook the bread to perfection might vary by a minute or two. So, it is always a good idea to open the basket and check on it.
When the bread has got golden brown on the crust, it is ready.
Then remove onto a cooling rack and let the air fryer bread cool for 15-20 minutes before slicing it. Use a sharp serrated bread knife to slice neatly and enjoy the freshly baked bread.
🍳How to serve this bread
You can serve this air fryer bread as a loaf of regular sandwich bread. It is best for making sweet sandwiches like cream-filled Japanese sandwiches, peanut butter, and jelly sandwiches, etc.
🫙 Storage Tips
Freshly baked eggless air fryer milk bread can last 3-4 days at room temperature if stored properly.
It is best stored by wrapping it in a cotton cloth or a cotton bread bag. Place it in a cool corner of your kitchen or a bread box.
Do not refrigerate it, but you could freeze it if you baked it in bulk and want to store it for longer. To freeze place the entire loaf or slices in a freezer-safe bag, with air squeezed. Now wrap it with a double layer of foil, mark the date and place it in the freezer. It will last for months.
♨ Reheating air fryer bread
To reheat, air fry the bread slices at 350 0F for 3-4 minutes. You can heat them in a toaster, on a skillet, or in an an oven, just like any regular bread.
💭Pro Tips
- Use bread flour for best results and do not substitute with regular flour or whole wheat flour.
- If you are using instant dry yeast, the bulk fermentation and proofing stage will take longer than what is suggested in this recipe. Also, instant dry yeast needs to be bloomed in one cup warm water or warm milk with sugar before adding it to the dough mixture.
- You can make this recipe into a loaf, artisan bread in an air fryer, or air fryer bread rolls. This recipe can also be used to make 8-9 dinner rolls. In such cases use 8 inches circular or square cake pan.
- Decide the shape of the bread depending on the shape and size of your air fryer basket. If your air fryer is small and not high enough, making a loaf is advisable as the top crust might get burnt due to its proximity to the heat source. In such cases make dinner rolls, but if you have an air fryer with a taller basket, you can conveniently make any kind of loaf.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
The key reason for dense bread is under-proofing. In technical words, the yeast activity did peak in your dough. This could be because of expired or dead yeast or because you did not allow enough time to proof the dough. Never bake a loaf of bread until the dough has doubled in the bulk fermentation stage. Even if it is taking way longer than the suggested timeframe. Do not rush bread. Read this detailed post that I wrote detailing all the reasons why our bread turns out dense.
Well, why not! You toast all sorts of bread in an air fryer. I love to toast sourdough bread, reheat or cook frozen or leftover waffles in an air fryer, toast Bagels in an air fryer, Burger buns, and even bake garlic bread in air fryer.
There is no need to preheat the whole oven for toasting a few bread slices and also skip your toaster which needs so many turns to toast a few slices of bread, waffles, or bagels. From dinner rolls to a bread loaf, everything can be easily reheated or toasted in an air fryer.
Yes, you can proof bread dough in an air fryer. You can use it just like we use a turned-off oven as a warm place in our kitchen to proof the dough. But here we have more control. Just run the air fryer with the empty basket at your lowest temperature setting for 1 minute and turn off the air fryer. Now place the dough covered with a kitchen towel in the air fryer basket and let it proof until it doubles up.
Though I like to use an instant pot to proof my bread dough. I have written about it in detail in my start-to-finish bread in an instant pot.
🍽 More Air Fryer recipes:
Some recipes for air fryer appetizers are stated below.
- Air Fryer Frozen Broccoli Spiced to Perfection!
- Frozen Cauliflower in air fryer : A Quick Recipe
- Air fryer spaghetti squash: Low Carb, Quick and simple!
- How to fry frozen okra in air fryer? Breaded and plain cut okra
- Frozen Green Beans in Air Fryer
- How to make Frozen Brussel Sprouts in Air Fryer?
- Air Fryer Frozen Corn on the Cob
- Frozen Sweet Potatoes in Air Fryer
More Bread Recipes
- How to bake perfect bread in Instant pot
- Ube Bread
- Sourdough Discard Bread
- Sourdough Breadsticks
- Same-day Sourdough Baguette Recipe
- How to make Surprisingly Soft Oatmeal Sandwich Bread with Sourdough
- Challah Buns | Vegan Challah Rolls
- Turkish Bread (No-knead Recipe)
- Sourdough Ciabatta Recipe ( Ciabatta rolls)
I hope you will like this air fryer bread recipe. Share it with friends if you find it helpful.
Till then,
Make it quick and delicious!
📝 Recipe Card
Air Fryer Bread
Ingredients
- 225 g bread flour 1 ¾ cup
- 155 g whole milk ⅔ cup
- 8 g Salt 1 ½ tsp
- 3 g Instant rise Yeast 1 tsp
Instructions
Step 1 Make air fryer bread dough
- Start by combining all the dry ingredients, i.e. bread flour, instant yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Use a whisk to combine them well. Now add milk to the dry ingredients.
- Now, use the back of a ladle to combine all the ingredients into a dough mass. When you reach a point where the ladle cannot help to combine the dough any further, scrape the dough from the ladle and place it aside.
- Now flip the bowl on a work surface. Use a bench scraper to scrape the flour stuck to the sides of the bowl.
- Start kneading the dough with your hands. First, combine all the dry patches of flour into one dough mass. Then grab the dough with your fingers and pull it up. Then slap it on the counter (work surface) while folding it over.
- By doing this you will be working on the gluten and also aerating the dough. Keep repeating till the dough starts to come together and becomes less sticky.
- The total kneading time should be around 8-10 minutes. You know that the dough is ready when it no longer sticks to your fingers and has a smooth finish. ( Read recipe notes for kneading in a stand mixer)
Step 2 Bulk Fermentation
- Now, put the dough in a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough proof in a warm corner of your kitchen. In winter you can also place it in an oven with lights turned on.
- Bulk ferment the dough until it becomes double in volume. It would take about 2 hours on a cold day and 60-90 minutes on a warm day.
- Since we are using instant yeast, it should take less time than the live yeast or dry yeast dough. So, adjust your timeline depending on the type of leavening agent used. It is always better to go by the volume of the dough risen than by any timeline as the ambient temperature highly influences the fermentation.
Step 3 Shaping the air fryer bread loaf
- When the dough has doubled in volume, punch it to deflate and remove on onto a flour-dusted work surface. Now gather the dough edges to make a large round of the dough.
- You can shape the air fryer bread into mini loaves or dinner rolls. Decide the shape of the bread depending on the shape and size of your air fryer basket. If your air fryer is small and not high enough, making a loaf is not advisable as the top crust might get burnt due to its proximity to the heat source. In such cases make dinner rolls, but if you have an air fryer with a taller basket, you can conveniently make any kind of loaf.
- Shaping 2 mini air fryer bread loaves: Divide the dough ball into 2 equal parts using a bench scraper.Now take one part and use the tip of your hands to flatten it and form it into a rectangular sheet. The width of the dough sheet should be about one inch less than the length of your loaf pan. I am using a 5 ¾ x3 inch loaf pan. So, I kept the width of the dough sheet at 4 ¾ inches. You can also use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a rectangular sheet.Now start rolling the dough sheet into a tight log while rolling the sheet gently. Carefully lift the air fryer loaf and place it in a greased loaf pan.Repeat with the second piece of dough. ( skip to step4)
- Shaping air fryer dinner rolls: Divide the dough into 8 equal parts. Take one part and gather all the edges and seal at the center. Now flip the dough to roll using the side of your palms and make it into a round ball.Keep aside and cover with a kitchen towel. Repeat with the remaining dough pieces.Take an 8 or 9-inch cake pan and grease it with butter. Now place all the dough balls in it keeping room for dough expansion. Cover it with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap.
Step 4 Proofing the loaf
- Now cover the loaf pan with an oiled cling wrap and let it proof in a warm corner of your kitchen. When the dough rises about an inch well above the rim of the loaf pan at the center of the pan, it is ready for baking.If making dinner rolls, the dough balls should have doubled in volume. That’s when they are ready to be baked in an air fryer.
Step 5 Baking air fryer bread
- Set the air fryer temperature to 300 oF and set the timer to 4 minutes and let the air fryer run with an empty basket.
- Then place the loaf pan in the basket of the air fryer and set the timer for 12 minutes at 300 oF
- Let the bread air fry for 10 minutes then pull out the air fryer basket to check how much more time the bread requires.
- Each air fryer is different, and the exact time required to cook the bread to perfection might vary by a minute or two. So, it is always a good idea to open the basket and check on it.
- When the bread has got golden brown crust, it is ready.
- Then remove onto a cooling rack and let the air fryer bread cool for 15-20 minutes before slicing it. Use a sharp serrated bread knife to slice neatly and enjoy!
Notes
- Use bread flour for best results and do not substitute with regular flour or whole wheat flour.
- If you are using instant dry yeast, the bulk fermentation and proofing stage will take longer than what is suggested in this recipe. Also, instant dry yeast needs to be bloomed in warm milk with sugar before adding to the dough mixture.
- Kneading in a stand mixer: Combine all the dry and wet ingredients in the bowl of the stand mixer. Start kneading at low speed (2 for KitchenAid) and keep kneading until the dough comes together and starts to leave the sides of the bowl. It should take about 8-9 minutes. Then bump up the speed to high (6 on KitchenAid) and knead for 2 more minutes. The dough should become smooth by now. Dough for making bread in the air fryer should not be sticky and should be smooth to the touch.
- You can make this recipe into a loaf or air fryer dinner roll. This recipe can also be used to make 8-9 dinner rolls. In such cases use 8 inches circular or square cake pan.
- Decide the shape of the bread depending on the shape and size of your air fryer basket. If your air fryer is small and not high enough, making a loaf is advisable as the top crust might get burnt due to its proximity to the heat source. In such cases make dinner rolls, but if you have an air fryer with a taller basket, you can conveniently make any kind of loaf.
📋Nutrition Facts
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