Combine milk and water in a cup (room temperature) and set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients.
Mix in the chopped butter and with a pastry blender work it into the flour mixture (like pie crust). Don’t overwork the mixture.
Gently mix in the liquid ingredients until a rough ball is formed.
Turn out onto a work surface and quickly knead the dough (don’t overwork or warm it with your hands – which could create a tougher product). This is not bread dough.
Return the ball of dough to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate two hours.
Remove from the refrigerator and place on a well floured surface. Roll out the dough into a roughly 16 by 32 inch rectangle (40 x 80 cm). If too large, it can be done in two parts. Fold in thirds, like a business letter. Give the dough a quarter-turn and roll out again. Do this folding and rolling process two more times. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. (I placed it into a ziplock gallon bag).
Leave dough out for 15 minutes. Roll out to a circle about 1/3 inch thick (about 1 cm.) Press out the cronuts with a doughnut cutter. Place the cronuts and their “holes” on a baking sheet covered with wax paper and allow them to rise a bit for about 20-30 minutes.
In the meantime pour some vegetable or canola oil into a heavy saucepan about half full (3 1/2 to 4 inches depth) and heat to 340 degrees. It’s important to maintain this temperature so if you’re not using a fryer, insert a frying thermometer.
Fry 2-3 cronuts at a time for about two minutes per side or until golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and let drain on kitchen paper towels.
If desired roll in sugar, powdered sugar or glaze with a powdered sugar and lemon juice glaze (or in cinnamon sugar as I did).
If you want, half the dough can be made up into traditional croissants and baked in the oven (Rolling the dough into a circle and cutting it into 8 wedges that are rolled up into a croissant shape. A piece of chocolate can be placed in the middle if desired).
