Air Fryer Pumpkin Biscuits (20 cents each)

Fill the bread basket with a batch (or two!) of these easy Pumpkin Biscuits. You can bake them in the oven or enjoy the ease and novelty of air fryer biscuits.

Delicious alongside a bowl of Potato Soup with Sausage or spread with honey and butter and served as breakfast for dinner, these pumpkin biscuits bake up light and fluffy. You can freeze extras for an easy bread basket filler.

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• Why Make This
• Ingredients
• Step-by-Step Instructions
• FAQs
• Recipe Costs
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• Pumpkin Biscuits

Quick dinner ideas are the name of the game around here. Quick often implies that you’re gonna go simple, no elaborate souffles or dishes that take a long time to prepare. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t put in a little extra effort.

It’s all well and good to have a quick dinner, but often the bread basket gets neglected. Let that no longer be the case with these Pumpkin Biscuits. Especially if you’ve got an air fryer.

Air fryer biscuits bake up quickly and easily and taste delicious! While these Pumpkin Biscuits can be baked in the oven, cooking them in the air fryer gives them a great texture.

Why Make This

Pumpkin Biscuits are delicious! Drop biscuits might not look fancy, but they’re super simple and taste great, particularly when you flavor them with pumpkin and spices and serve them with loads of butter and honey. They are great alongside a bowl of Instant Pot Tomato Soup.

They’re quick and easy. I love these because they stir up quickly without a lot of fuss. Just drop the dough by spoonfuls like you would cookie dough. Send them to the oven or the air fryer and soon you’ll have piping hot Pumpkin Biscuits to fill up the bread basket.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need for these easy air fryer pumpkin biscuits:

flour – I use unbleached, all-purpose flour, but you can also use regular all-purpose or whole wheat pastry flours as well as swap out the wheat and use your favorite gluten-free flour blend as well. (See the gluten-free notes below.)

baking powder – This is what will cause your biscuits to rise! So don’t leave it out.

salt – A little bit of salt is always good to help bring out the other flavors.

cinnamon and nutmeg – I love adding these spices to anything pumpkin! If you prefer, you can leave them out or sub in something like ground ginger or turmeric for another warm spice. Pumpkin Pie Spice will give it a fun fall twist.

pumpkin puree – Be sure to use pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling which has added ingredients. You can also substitute butternut squash puree if you like. They won’t be pumpkin biscuits but they’ll still be good!

egg – One egg is all you need. If you don’t have any or are accommodating an allergy, you can use Flaxseed Meal Egg Substitute. The texture might not be exactly the same, but still good.

milk – I use 1% milk, but you can use whatever milk you like, including plant-based milks.

oil – Use whatever oil you prefer for baking. You can also substitute butter, margarine, or lard.

Gluten-free Variation

This recipe has been tested with Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten-free baking mix. While the end result is slightly different in texture, the recipe works well with gluten and without.

You may want to extend the baking time a few minutes if baking with gluten-free flour.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Here’s how to make these easy air fryer pumpkin biscuits:

Prep step: Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the air fryer basket and set this aside. Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees.

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

2. In a second mixing bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, egg, milk, and oil.

3. Pour the dry mixture over the wet and fold gently to combine.

4. Remove the air fryer basket and carefully line it with the parchment paper. Scoop the batter into equal mounds in the basket. Insert the basket in the machine and cook for 9 to 10 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter, if any.

5. Cool the pumpkin biscuits on a wire rack until ready to serve.

To bake in the oven:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Prepare the batter as directed.
• Spoon the batter into 12 portions on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. 

To freeze the biscuits:

Once the pumpkin biscuits are completely cooled, store them in a ziptop bag or airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 2 months.

To serve: thaw at room temperature in the wrappings and reheat in a warm oven.

FAQs

Recipe Costs

Knowing how much it costs you to prepare a recipe can help you decide if it’s the type of recipe to make regularly or one you might want to save for special occasions. Let’s crunch some numbers and see how this recipe pencils out.

• flour – $0.30
• baking powder – $0.09
• salt – $0.01
• ground cinnamon – $0.02
• ground nutmeg – $0.03
• pumpkin puree – $0.45
• egg – $0.15
• milk – $0.10
• oil – $0.08

While your costs may vary depending on where and how you shop, you can expect to pay about $1.23 for a batch of pumpkin biscuits or about 20 cents per large biscuit.

Save even more with the Good Cheap Eats System

Follow our money-saving system to save more. Here are some of the strategies you can use to make this recipe more economical:

• Stock up on ingredients when they are on sale. When I find regular kitchen staples on sale, I buy a lot. I’m currently using a price book to track prices and that’s saving me money. For this recipe, keeping an eye on the price of flour and butter can help keep the price down.
• Buying in bulk – It’s rare that I would buy just one package of flour. I have gotten into the habit of buying cases of flour from Bob’s Red Mill. 

More Great Biscuit Recipes to Try

This post was originally published on October 20, 2015. It has been updated for content and clarity.