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If you love quick and easy desserts, make sure to print out the recipe for these air fryer caramel cream puffs. They are super delicious and you only need 4 ingredients!

I have to tell you a funny story about how this recipe came about. When I was pregnant with my youngest daughter, I watched a movie with Sarah Michelle Gellar, called Simply Irresistible. Throughout the movie, she made these caramel pastries that made people float.

For the next few months, I had my husband going from bakery to bakery, trying to find some sort of caramel pastry. Surprisingly, they weren’t easy to find!

Years later, although I’m still trying to find that perfect caramel pastry, I found an easy way to satisfy that craving with these air fryer caramel cream puffs!

Before I share our air fryer caramel cream puff recipe, let me share a few tips.

If you have one, I recommend using a silicone cutting board. The dough won’t stick to it and it’s easy to clean!

I always spray my air fryer with avocado oil. Even though my basket is non-stick, I find that if one of the air fryer caramel cream puffs explodes, it is much easier to clean the caramel off of the basket.

I use baking caramels for this recipe. They are individually wrapped, so you can just use the right amount and store the rest (if your kids don’t eat them all as mine do).

It’s really important that when you are rolling your dough into a ball after you’ve placed the caramel in the center, that you close up any possible openings and make sure the side that once had the opening is always on top. Although most of the time, the air fryer caramel cream puffs will open at the top, if you seal them well enough, they will stay sealed.

What if I don’t have an Air Fryer?

If you don’t have an air fryer yet, this is a great opportunity to get one. We have the Powerxl 5qt and we absolutely love it.

What ingredients do I need?

All you need is refrigerated crescent dough, caramel, whipped cream, and powdered sugar!

Can I use refrigerated biscuit dough instead?

While I haven’t tried it with refrigerated biscuit dough yet, I would imagine that they would taste just as good!

I’ve tried to show the steps in the photos above for you, to make it a bit easier to make these air fryer caramel cream puffs.

Step 1: Remove crescent dough from the container and lay it flat on a cutting board.

Step 2: Cut dough into equal parts. You’ll wind up with 11 or 12 pieces (depending on how even you make them).

Step 3: Roll each piece of crescent dough into a ball.

Step 4: Flatten each ball of crescent dough on the cutting board.

Step 5: Place a piece of caramel in the center of the flattened dough.

Step 6: Bring the sides of the dough over the piece of caramel and make sure to close up all of the open spaces as best as you can with your fingers. It should now be back into the shape of a ball with what used to be the opening at the top.

Step 7: Repeat step 6 with all of the dough and caramel pieces.

Step 8: Depending on how large your air fryer is, place the balls of dough and caramel into your air fryer basket. Leave space around each one as they will expand just a bit. Make sure the part that was open is at the top, in case they open up.

Step 9: When you remove the air fryer caramel cream puffs from the air fryer, this is what they will look like. Allow them to sit for 5 minutes.

Step 10: Add powdered sugar and a small amount of whipped cream in the center before serving.