Preparation

1. For the dough : Mix the yeast, sugar and two tablespoons of lukewarm milk together to activate the yeast. It should take about 5 to 10 minutes till the mixture is bubbly.

2. Mix the flour, yeast mixture and salt together. If using a standing mixer with the dough hook, mix it on low.

3. In a measuring jug, heat together the remaining milk, water, butter and heat until the mixture is lukewarm and the butter melted. Stir in the vanilla.

4. Add the milk mixture to the yeast and flour mixture and knead well until the dough forms the gluten strands and is shiny and smooth. The dough will be on the wet side and a bit saggy. If using the mixer, let it mix on low for about 2 minutes and increase speed to medium for about 6-8 minutes. 

5. Coat the mixing bowl with oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat lightly.

6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until double in size, 1 ½ -2 hours.

7. Once it's risen, turn out the fluffy dough onto a dusted work surface.

8. Roll the dough out till  ½ inch thick.

9. Using a round cutter ( I used 21/2 inches but you can use smaller), cut of your donuts circles. Dust your cutter in flour so it doesn’t stick to the dough. Then cut out the donut hole with a much smaller cutter ( I used a piping nozzle, 1 ¼“ )

10. You can prepare the donuts to this stage and put in the refrigerator until the next day. When needed, take out and let me come to room temp and rise a little (roughly 30 minutes) and then bake off as instructed below.

11. Cover your donuts with cling film and let them rise at room temp for 20-30 minutes.

12. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F

13. Unwrap the donuts. Brush the very top (not the sides) with melted butter.

14. Tip: Sprinkle the tray with 2 tblsp of water. I do this regularly for all yeast based dough. 

15. Bake for 13- 15 minutes. Rotate the  tray during baking if needed. You want to bake these just enough - if they get too much color, they can be dry.

16. While the donuts are baking make the glaze: Simply whisk all the ingredients together. Use more water if needed to get a thin glaze.

17. Glazing the donuts: Take you donuts straight from the oven and dunk into the glaze one by one. It makes a huge difference. They soften and soak the glaze and you get a much better end result. Dip each in the bowl of glaze with forks. Let the excess glaze drip off before and then place on a wire rack to dry. Once the glaze has set, I like to double dip them one more time. 

18. For the cinnamon sugar topping, melt the butter. Dip each doughnut first in the butter and then in the cinnamon sugar, either on one side or both sides. I like to use this coating for the donut holes.

19. For the chocolate glaze, sift the sugar and cocoa powder into a medium bowl. 

20. Add the milk, vanilla, corn syrup, salt and whisk until smooth.

21. Tip:​ Add more milk, to make a thinner glaze or additional sugar to make it thicker.

22. Place a wire rack over a baking sheet. Dip each doughnut top side down into the glaze and lift up to allow the excess to drip back into the bowl. Set the donuts down on the rack and let sit for at least 15 minutes to allow the glaze to set.You can double dip if you need a thicker glaze. Add sprinkles if preferred.

23. Eat as soon as possible as they are at their absolute best!