In a small bowl, combine the yeast with water that has been warmed to 110-115 F. Heat the milk to 110-115 F.
In a large bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients from the softened butter to the sea salt. Mix until the mixture is smooth—grease a bowl with 1 tbsp of softened butter.
Grease a large bowl with remaining butter. Place the soft dough into the greased bowl,turning the dough over once, so the top is coated in butter. Cover and allow to rise for 45-60 minutes or until doubled.
Punch the dough down and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Knead ten times.
Roll the dough into 1/2” thickness. Cut dough using a 3 1/4” circle cutter. Reroll the dough as necessary to create more donuts.
Place cut dough onto a buttered baking sheet. Cover and let rise for another 45-60 minutes or until doubled.
In the meantime, make the dark chocolate ganache by heating cream in the microwave until bubbling, about 60-90 seconds. Add in the cocoa powder and whisk together. The mixture will be very thick until the powdered sugar is added. Add in the vanilla extract and powdered sugar. Whisk well to combine. Allow to cool before using but keep ganache at room temperature.
Make the vanilla sugar by combining the granulated sugar and vanilla beans in a bowl.
About 15 minutes before the donuts are doubled in size, heat 3-4” of lard or shortening in a medium-sized pot. Heat to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place a cooling rack on top.
Cook 1-2 donuts at a time for 2 minutes per side. Flip and repeat on the other side. The donuts should be a nice golden brown.
Place fried donuts on a cooling rack and allow to cool. Place one cooled donut at a time into the vanilla sugar to coat it. Then return it to the cooling rack and repeat with the remaining donuts.
Using a #230 tip, fill a piping bag with the dark chocolate ganache and fill each donut with a generous portion. Enjoy immediately!
Tip
Use a candy thermometer that clips to the side of the pot to help control the frying oil temperature, turning the heat up and down as necessary to maintain proper temperature.
