Gooey pots of hot cookie dough are quick and easy to cook in the air fryer! A crisp cookie top, with melty gooey dough inside, these are rich, decadent and perfect with a dollop of ice cream. This recipe is for a basic chocolate chip cookie dough but it can be customized in so many ways! I like to make individual portions in ramekins but you could make a sharing dessert in a larger pan if you wish.
These hot cookie dough pots are a perfect easy dessert. Simple to make in one bowl with no mixer required (and can be made ahead of time), quick to cook, and sure to wow anyone who loves soft gooey cookies. In cute individual portions, these are completely dinner party worthy if you are going for a home comforts kind of vibe.
We lean into the air fryer’s strengths with this recipe, because the strong fan is able to give the top of our cookie dough pots an amazing crispy baked finish while the inside stays doughy and raw. That contrast is downright dreamy.
Ingredients & Variations
Just the usual suspects, where cookie making is concerned.
- You can use light or dark brown sugar. I tried both and had just a marginal preference for the dark brown, but it was not a big difference.
- We are going to melt the butter – you are of course welcome to go further and brown it in a saucepan if you like the nutty tastes of browned butter.
- I used dark chocolate chips but there’s no reason you couldn’t mix things up here with milk or white chocolate chips, M&Ms, nuts, freeze dried berries, crushed oreos, or whatever other fillings you might like. Have fun and make it seasonal!
Equipment
- To make this in individual pots, you will need some kind of ramekins. Glass ramekins are especially handy here, because you can see how cooked the dough is looking through the side! This is very useful when you’re cooking this for the first time and want to assess their readiness. I used ramekins from Gu Puds (it’s a UK thing) But use whatever you have. Alternatively, if you have any standalone silicone muffin or cupcake cases, try those!
- It’s helpful if you have a silicone mat for the bottom of your air fryer to protect the nonstick of the basket from being scratched as you get the ramekins in and out.
- It’s also helpful to use small silicone potholders to get the hot ramekins out. They’re a little easier to use with an air fryer than normal potholders.
The Easy Cookie Dough (One Bowl, No Creaming!)
The dough is really easy to put together. One bowl, no need for mixers. As most of the dough is being eaten in gooey form, I don’t see any need to make it the same way as if we were fully baking it!
This amount will fill four ramekins to the top (as pictured) or you can stretch it to six ramekins if you don’t go all the way to the top.
Make-Ahead Instructions
The dough can be refrigerated for 1 day, or frozen for up to 3 months.
If you’re using fridge temperature dough, you’ll need the higher end of the cook time given.
Frozen dough can either be defrosted before use, or cooked straight from frozen if you add an extra few minutes to the cook time. If your ramekins are freezer safe, you can even freeze it already portioned out to grab whenever you need a cookie dough hit!
Serving Suggestions
- For me, a dollop of vanilla ice cream is essential alongside these cookie dough pots as I love the cooling effect it brings. But whipped cream, pouring cream, even clotted cream or mascarpone could work if that is more to your tastes.
- Sprinkles add a fun touch to the presentation, and can be used to make it seasonal for holiday times!
More Ideas for You
- If you’re in the market for air fryer ideas, I have a bunch of recipes right here which will help you master some simple air fryer meals and treats.
- If you love ramekin desserts, my Easy Baileys Chocolate Dessert Pots are another super popular dessert recipe here!
Air Fryer Cookie Dough Dessert Pots
Ingredients
- â…“ cup (75 g) brown sugar
- 1 stick (110 g) unsalted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1.25 cups (150 g) plain white flour, you may need a little more
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
- ½ cup (100 g) chocolate chips
For Serving
- ice cream or whipped cream
- sprinkles or additional chips
Instructions
- Melt the butter (I like to use a microwave for maximum ease).
- Add the brown sugar, vanilla and egg. Mix vigorously until well combined (you can use a mixer, but you don't have to).
- Add half of the flour, sprinkle the salt and baking soda over top of the flour, and stir through. Add the remaining flour and continue to stir until a dough is formed. Assess the dough's texture – if it's runny, or sticking to the bowl, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl easily.
- Fold in your chocolate chips (or other mix ins)
- Preheat the air fryer to 160C / 320F. Portion the dough into 4 or 6 ramekins, and place in the air fryer once it's heated (ideally on top of a silicone mat to protect the basket's nonstick).
- Cook for 7-10 minutes. Your cook time will be on the higher end if you start with cold dough and on the lower side if you start with room temperature dough or if you're stretching it to six portions. Just check in at the earlier stage and see what you think.
- Top with ice cream, whipped cream, and sprinkles!
Looks lovely! How long would you give this in the air fryer if you didn’t use ramekins but one larger dish?
It’s hard to say – depends how deep it ends up being in the pan – I see recipes for giant cookies in the air fryer which require about 10 minutes to bake so on that basis if your pan is quite wide and the dough isn’t very deep, to make this kind of doughy dessert I’d start with 7 minutes and go from there. If your dish is less wide and the dough is very deep you may need more like 10-12 minutes. I might test this over the holidays so I update with directions for making it this way but I think you could just check figure it out as you go if needs be, checking in every few minutes after the 7 minute mark.