Air fryers are now a favoured method of cooking for many households as they’re typically quicker than using an oven and can produce deliciously crispy textures with minimal oil, making them healthier than deep fat frying. Air fryers are generally used for cooking main meals, like meats, potatoes and vegetables, they can also be used for baking.
Tasty treats like cakes, muffins, cookies and brownies can all be baked in an air fryer and as the cooking time is shorter, you can tuck into your bakes even sooner. If you haven’t ventured into air fryer baking yet then scones are a good place to start as you don’t need many ingredients and you can whip the mixture together in just 15 minutes. When making scones, it’s important not to overwork the dough as this can make the scones dense when baked. You can avoid this error by adding the liquid ingredients in your recipe slowly, bit by bit, so the dough doesn’t become too wet. But adding one ingredient to your mix will also help ensure a wonderfully light and fluffy texture – and that’s lemonade.
Adding lemonade to your mixture helps to aerate the dough which ultimately creates a much lighter and fluffier scone when baked, plus it adds a nice hint of sweet lemon flavour.
The carbon dioxide in lemonade – which is the gas that causes the fizz – acts as a leavening agent, in a similar way to baking powder or yeast, and this helps the scones to rise and create a light, airy texture.
Food recipe website Taste.com.au explains: “You’ve probably heard that lemonade is the trick to light and airy scones. The reason for that? Bubbles!
“The carbonation present in lemonade helps to aerate the dough, meaning the scones rise high and keep a fluffy interior. Adding lemonade is a foolproof trick for perfect scones, especially if you find that you’re a serial over-kneader of scone dough.
“But that’s not all it does. Lemonade also sweetens the dough, giving the scones a sweet and subtle lemon flavour that works wonderfully with cream and lemon curd.”
Taste.com.au says you’ll need 185ml of lemonade for its air fryer scones recipe, along with 525g of self-raising flour, 70g of caster sugar, 300ml of thickened cream and one teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Simply combine the flour and sugar in a large bowl, then add your cream, lemonade and vanilla extract. Once combined, place the dough on a floured surface and gently knead for 30 seconds until smooth, then cut out your scones – there should be enough mixture for 16 scones.
Then place a sheet of baking paper in your air fryer basket (keep it 1cm smaller than the basket so air can circulate) and then place five or six scones in at a time, brushing the tops lightly with milk before cooking on 160C for around 15 minutes, or until golden and hollow-sounding when tapped on top.
Repeat this until all your scones are baked and then serve them warm with a generous helping of jam and cream, or lemon curd if you want a zesty kick.
