Air fryers are all the rage nowaday and have replaced ovens as the go-to cooking appliance for many households, but it might not be something you’d think to use for baking. While air fryers come in various sizes, the cooking basket is still smaller than an oven which isn’t ideal if you want to make a big batch of buns or biscuits. But despite their compact size, they can actually be great to use for baking as the rapid air circulation makes the cooking time shorter, meaning you can tuck into your treats faster – and save some pennies on your energy bill.

Scones are a good place to start your venture into air fryer baking as they’re quick to prepare and easy to divide into batches. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver says it's possible to achieve a deliciously light scone with a crisp, golden crust in as little as 12 minutes using an air fryer – and the key to creating that fluffy texture lies in one ingredient.

When making scones it’s important to that the butter is cold when you add it as this prevents it from melting before the scones are baked, which ultimately results in a lighter bake. As the cold butter melts during baking it creates steam pockets, helping to aerate the dough to create a light and fluffy texture.

It’s also crucial not to handle the dough too much before baking to help keep the butter cold and avoid over-development of the gluten, as this can cause scones to become dense.

Explaining the process for his savoury cheese and chive scones, Jamie Oliver says: “Let me show you how well you can bake in the air fryer – this is a brilliant little recipe that I know you’re going to love. These savoury scones are absolutely delicious – crispy and golden, but also fluffy inside – and you can knock them together really quickly.”

For the recipe you’ll need 200g self-raising flour, 75g cold unsalted butter, 1tbsp of baking powder, 120g of mature Cheddar cheese and 70ml of milk. For added flavour, Jamie adds in a teaspoon of English mustard powder, 20g of chopped chives and a sprinkling of cayenne pepper for flavour, but you don’t have to add these elements if you don’t want to.

Jamie explains: “Sift the flour into a bowl with the baking and mustard powders, then add a generous pinch each of cayenne pepper and sea salt. Cube up the butter, then use your thumbs and fingertips to rub it into the flour mixture until you have little cornflake-sized pieces.

“Coarsely grate in 100g of the Cheddar, finely chop and add the chives, then mix everything together. Make a well in the middle, pour in the milk, and bring together into a soft, dry dough, adding a tiny extra splash of milk, if needed – use your hands, if necessary, but don’t be tempted to over-mix.”

Once the dough is made, simply turn it out onto a flour-dusted surface and roll it out until it’s about 3cm thick, then cut it into six triangular wedges. Lightly brush the tops of each of these with milk, then grate some cheddar cheese on top and sprinkle with cayenne pepper.

Then simply bake for 12 minutes in the air fryer, which should be greased with a little bit of olive oil, at 180C until golden. You might need to do several batches if you don’t have enough space, as you’ll need to evenly space out the scones so they don’t bunch together.