These are banana donuts. Or doughnuts, whichever you prefer. The recipe is from Guam, but I added a few ingredients that are usually not in the original recipe, like vanilla extract and cinnamon. There is another traditional donut recipe that utilizes a specific yam instead of bananas, but that kind of yam is difficult to find in the Mainland US, and the skin of the raw yam can irritate your skin so much that you need to wear gloves to handle them.

I used an air fryer instead of deep frying them the traditional way, which makes them a lot easier and less messy. Having had my air fryer for several weeks now, I’m really enjoying not only making things that are traditionally deep fried, but it is also a joy to use for reheating foods! I sometimes still guess at cooking and reheating times, but generally, the cooking times are a lot shorter and because you don’t even have to use oil, a lot less messy. I hope you enjoy! These are the donuts of my people!

boñelos aga (adapted from this Guampedia recipe)

ingredients

4 very ripe bananas, mashed

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

method

Put all ingredients into a bowl and stir until a wet batter forms and there are no pockets of the dry ingredients hiding under wet batter. Batter will be very sticky and wet. Do not overmix. Heat a few inches of oil in a medium pot. Start frying only when oil is very hot. Use a 1/4 cup scoop or large serving spoon to gently drop small blobs of batter into oil to deep fry until golden brown on all sides, turning frequently. If using an air fryer, add about 4-5 cupcake liners at a time in a single layer on the screen platform of an air fryer. Press each cupcake liner down slightly so that each liner is flatter and more open, more like a saucer shape than a cup shape. Spray each paper cupcake liner lightly with canola oil spray then add about 1/4th scoop of batter to each liner then spray the tops of each blob of batter. Air fry at 350 degrees F. for 8 minutes. Check and rearrange for even frying at about 6 minutes. Remove and dust with confectioners sugar, if desired.