Homemade Pizza Crust

Homemade Pizza Crust

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
1 package yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons peanut or olive oil
2 ¾ - 3 ¼ cups flour
Pizza sauce
Pizza toppings of your choice

Directions:
Measure warm water into a large warm bowl. Sprinkle in yeast; stir until dissolved. Stir in sugar, salt, oil, and 1 ½ cups flour; beat until smooth. Add enough flour to make a stiff dough.
Turn out onto a lightly floured board; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in a warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes. (An oven heated to 200º, then turned off, works well.)
Punch down dough and divide in half. Roll and stretch each into a 13-inch round. Place in 2 lightly oiled 12" pizza pans, pressing around the edge to form a standing rim of dough. You may want to prick the crust with a fork.
Bake at 350º for 10 minutes. Top immediately with sauce and toppings and bake 20 minutes at 400º, or cool and store the crusts, wrapped tightly, in the refrigerator for up to 6 days.
The recipe may be doubled. Pre-baked pizza crusts, with or without toppings, may also be frozen for longer periods; wrap well. To store pizzas with toppings, wrap with plastic wrap first, then aluminum foil (tomato in the sauce may eat through foil).