Banana Donut Holes with Self-Rising Flour and Coating Tips

These puffy, golden donut holes taste like banana rolled in cinnamon sugar, and the dough is just ½ cup mashed banana and ¾ cup self-rising flour.

You get 8 in 17 minutes, air-fried at 350°F. Measure the banana exactly: less than ½ cup throws off the flour ratio, and the dough won’t come together.

Banana Donut Hole Ingredients

These amounts make 8 donut holes: 10 minutes prep, 7 minutes cooking, 17 minutes total.

Dough:

• ½ cup mashed ripe banana (1 large banana)
• ¾ cup self-rising flour (95 grams)
• 2–3 teaspoons melted coconut oil, for oiling your hands and kneading

Coating:

• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ cup unrefined cane sugar (or granulated)
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil or melted butter

Optional extras for the dough:

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 2–3 tablespoons brown or coconut sugar, for a sweeter hole

Mash the banana first, then pack it into a measuring cup.

Measure exactly ½ cup, since the flour amount is built around it. Other recipes use different ratios and make different yields, so don’t mix and match amounts.

Make Banana Donut Holes

1. Mash 1 ripe banana until smooth and measure ½ cup. Less than that throws off the flour ratio, and the dough won’t come together.
2. Stir in ¾ cup self-rising flour with a spatula, just until a sticky dough forms. Do not overmix.
3. Oil your hands and roll the dough into 1-tablespoon balls, about 1 inch across.
4. Spray the air fryer basket, then air-fry at 350°F for 6–7 minutes. Leave 1 inch between holes, because they expand. They come out puffy and golden, a little rocky, and not perfectly round.
5. While they cook, stir together ¼ cup sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon.
6. Brush the warm holes with melted coconut oil or butter, then roll them in the cinnamon sugar.
7. Serve warm.

No air fryer? The oven and frying options are covered in the sections below.

Air Fryer, Oven, or Skillet

The air fryer is the weeknight pick: no pot of oil to watch, and a 2-quart basket holds about 6 holes at a time. Space them apart, because they expand as they cook.

Method	Temperature	Time	Notes
Air fryer	350°F	6–7 minutes	Up to 8 with one model; flip halfway
Mini muffin pan	350°F	About 15 minutes	Conventional oven: add 25°F and a few extra minutes
Frying	360°F oil, 1½ inches deep	2–3 minutes	About 2 minutes per side

Pull them when they are golden brown and baked through the center. Oil that’s too hot browns the outside before the middle cooks, and oil that’s too cool soaks up grease.

Fry in small batches, since the holes expand. Baking is the gentler route, but it won’t match the crispness of frying.

Cinnamon Sugar and Other Coatings

Stir together equal parts ground cinnamon and granulated sugar. About ¼ cup total covers one batch, and brown sugar works in place of white.

Sugar needs something to cling to, so brush each hole with oil or melted butter first. Coat fried holes the moment they leave the oil, while the surface is still hot.

Let baked ones cool about 2 minutes, then butter and roll them. Work a few at a time and serve warm.

For a spiced version, mix ½ cup sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger and ½ teaspoon cardamom. Skip the ginger for a simple cardamom-cinnamon sugar.

A glaze of ½ cup powdered sugar and 1 small ripe banana, mashed smooth, gives you a wetter, banana-forward finish. Chocolate is the dessert option.

Sticky Dough and Dense Holes

Sticky dough is normal here, so don’t fix it with flour.

Oil your hands, work it the way you would focaccia, and knead only until a ball forms. The dough should stay moist and elastic.

If it clings to your fingers, rub on a little more oil. If it is truly wet, add no more than 2–3 tablespoons of flour in total, or the holes turn bready.

Dense holes usually trace back to overmixing or too much flour (or pancake mix, if that is your base). On the next batch, use a bit more banana or less dry mix.

Air-fried holes come out rocky and dry on the outside, and a few will be lopsided.

A harder shell is normal. If you are portioning a looser batter, a piping bag gives you rounder holes.

Self-Rising Flour Substitutes

Self-rising flour is all-purpose flour with baking powder and salt mixed in, so you can build it from pantry staples:

• Use 1 cup all-purpose flour plus 2 teaspoons baking powder in place of 1 cup self-rising flour.
• For a version with salt, use ¾ cup all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder and ⅛ teaspoon salt.
• Pancake mix works too: some versions use 1¾ cups mix to 1 large banana.
• Gluten-free flour mix or oat flour also works, but expect denser holes than you get with wheat flour.
• For sweeter dough, stir in 2–3 tablespoons of brown sugar or coconut sugar.
• For a coating with no oil, mix equal parts ground cinnamon and granulated sugar. Brown sugar works in place of the white, and shredded coconut is another dry option.

Storing and Reheating Leftovers

Leave the banana glaze off any holes you plan to save, because it turns them gooey in storage. Put the plain ones in an airtight container.

They hold up to 2 days at room temperature, and up to 4 days in the pantry or the refrigerator. If you want the full 4 days, skip the counter.

Reheat them in the air fryer, which crisps the outside back up.

A microwave won’t do that. Even so, these are best warm and fresh, and reheated ones are less tasty, so cook only what you’ll eat in one sitting if you can.

You can also refrigerate the dough before cooking. The cooking time may change, so check the first batch early rather than trusting the original timing.

Frequently Asked Questions