In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, pepper, garlic salt, 2 tablespoons of the sliced green onions, cheese, and about 1⁄2 cup of the crumbled bacon.
Rinse jalapenos and pat dry. Slice peppers in half lengthwise. Use a spoon or gloved fingers to scoop out the seeds and ribbing from the peppers.
Use a small spoon to scoop the cheese mixture into each pepper half.
Place stuffed jalapenos in a single layer into the basket of an air fryer. Allow some space between each pepper. You will probably need to cook the peppers in a few batches, depending on their size.
Sprinkle a bit of the breadcrumbs over the tops of each pepper (this is easier to do once they’re in the air fryer basket so that the breadcrumbs don’t fall off when moving the peppers into the basket.
Spray the tops of the peppers liberally with non-stick cooking spray.
Bake at 380°F for 5-7 minutes, until the tops of the poppers are golden brown.
Leave the peppers to sit in the air fryer basket for a minute or two before transferring to a platter.
Garnish with additional green onions and crumbled bacon. Serve warm with ranch dressing.
Notes
The filling is thick and will fill about 12 jalapenos (24 halves total). Use medium to large jalapenos so that there is a nice area to fill. Smaller jalapenos end up being fairly flat once you’ve sliced them in half and scooped out the seeds.
5 minutes cook time was plenty for small-medium jalapenos. Open the air fryer basket and peek to check doneness of the jalapenos. Larger jalapenos might need up to 7 minutes. If they cook too long, the cheeses may start to ooze out of the sides.
You don’t need to preheat your air fryer, but after you’ve cooked the first batch, subsequent batches may cook up more quickly.
A grapefruit spoon works well to scrape out the seeds and ribbing from the jalapenos. It’s best to handle the jalapenos as little as possible with your hands as the oils can irritate your skin.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. Jalapeno poppers can be reheated in the microwave, oven, or air fryer.