Step 1: Preheat to 320°F
Give your air fryer 3 minutes to heat. It doesn’t seem like much but that even heat makes all the difference.

Step 2: Mix your batter
In a bowl, whisk cake mix, egg, oil, water, and vanilla until smooth.
It’ll be thicker than regular cake batter just trust it.

Step 3: Fill the molds
Spoon or pipe batter into each mold, about ⅔ full.
They’ll rise. And they’ll smell like you meant to bake from scratch.

Step 4: Air fry 6–8 minutes
Place the filled molds into your air fryer basket.
They’re done when a toothpick comes out clean and the tops bounce back.

Step 5: Cool before glazing
Let donuts rest in the mold for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
Make your glaze while they cool sugar, milk, vanilla, and maybe a little color for fun.

Step 6: Dip, swirl, and sparkle
Dip the cooled donuts into glaze. Let excess drip off.
Add sprinkles, chips, or whatever joy looks like today.