Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from the heat and add milk, sugar, and salt. Mix well until everything is well dissolved. Crack the egg into the saucepan and mix well. Add the yeast and stir. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.

Deflate the gas with your hand and knead the dough for a few minutes until it’s soft and smooth. Cover with plastic wrap again and let it sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour until it doubles in size again.

Uncover the dough and knead it for a few minutes. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces.

Take a piece of dough and roll it out on your working surface so it forms a rope 10 inches long and ½ inch in diameter. If it’s sticky, sprinkle some flour on the working surface. When you roll out the dough, move one hand upward and the other downward so that the rope is twisted in between your hands as you roll it. Take the dough off the surface, hold it aloft, and bring the ends together. Place the twisted dough on a tray and repeat with the rest of the pieces.

Let the donuts expand for about 30 minutes. 15 minutes in, gently flip each donut over with your hands so the bottoms don’t get flat and all sides expand evenly.