Mix water and yeast, set aside to activate 5 – 10 minutes.

Meanwhile mix milk, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

In the bowl of you stand mixer, mix flour and salt.

Add the activated yeast mixture, and the milk mixture.

Mixture will be sticky. DO NOT BE AFRAID, that’s perfectly fine and result in fluffiness.

Flour your work surface and knead dough by hand, add flour so it doesn’t stick to your hands BUT not too much to make the dough dry.

Form in a ball, and place in a bowl for 2 hours covered to rise.

Flour your work surface again, and roll out the dough. Dusting slightly after you’ve rolled it into a rectangle.

If you have a donut cutter, use it, if not a glass cup would suffice.

Once you’re done shaping your donuts, cover with a tea towel and let them rest for at least an hour until they double in size again.

Deep fry in oil until both sides are golden.

Drain on a tea towel and wait to completely cool before glazing or decorating.