Pizza Crust

My kids love pizza. My hubby loves pizza. I kinda like the stuff, too. When I don't know what to make for dinner, I usually ask my family. If my hubby gives any input, it's usually pizza. But not the homemade kind. The takeout or delivery kind. When he suggested pizza the other night, my 6 year old was super excited.

"Yeah Mom! Pizza! Can we make our own? Please? Then we can make our own little pizzas!"

Her enthusiasm was contagious and we made our own pizzas. I made a big one for the hubby and big kids, while the little kids made their own. The crust was delicious! Slightly sweet and chewy.

1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 2/3 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons oil
1 3/4 - 2 cups hot tap water
1 tablespoon yeast
Corn meal, optional

Combine sugar, salt, flour and yeast in a large bowl or in the bowl of a mixer. Add oil and water (start with 1 3/4 cup water and add remaining 1/4 cup if needed) and mix until it forms a soft, not too sticky, dough. Knead dough for 10 minutes (by hand or with a mixer). Place the dough back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside to rise until doubled (about 1 hour). When dough has doubled, punch down and shape into 2 pizza crusts (I used my pizza stone and sprinkled it with corn meal before putting the crust on). Top crust as desired (don't overload your dough or it won't cook well). Bake pizzas at 475 for 15 minutes, or until crust and cheese is golden.

Recipe adapted from French Logic.