Dissolve yeast in 1 cup of warm milk along with a tspn of sugar. Let sit about 5 minutes until the yeast foams a bit (so you know it's active).

Beat in 2 cups of the flour, sugar, butter, and salt. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour 1/4 cup at a time until the dough starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let sit in a warm place until the dough doubles in bulk, about 2 hours.

Punch down the dough and turn it onto a floured surface. Roll dough to about 1/2-inch thick and use a drinking glass to cut circles and a smaller round cutter or bottle cap to cut out the holes. Obviously, if you don’t have a doughnut cutter yet!

Cover doughnuts (and holes) and let rise until puffy looking, for about 30 minutes.

Heat an inch or two of oil in a large heavy pot. Set a cooling rack over a baking sheet and put them near the pot.

Add 3 or 4 doughnuts (or 8 to 10 doughnut holes) to the oil. They should sizzle immediately as you add them to the oil. Lower the flame. Cook doughnuts until light brown on one side. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to flip the doughnuts, cook until the second side is light brown. Take them out and place on the cooling rack.