Homemade Pizza Dough

Yes, it's so easy to just pick up the phone and order a pizza and that's ok on some nights, but making your own crust is very satisfying...and cheap. This is a recipe I recently came up with after attempting (and tweaking) lots of recipes. This one ended up with a perfect crispy thin crust. We topped our pizza with sauce and fresh mozzarella. There are tons of other toppings from which to choose. Just remember if you decide to put any veggies on, make sure to pre-cook them.


Ingredients:
2 tsp yeast
1 cup warm water
3 cups flour (I like to use half white and half whole wheat flour)
1 tbsp sugar (This acts as food for the yeast)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil (Plus a little more for the rising portion and also brushing of the crust)
Corn meal for dusting


Directions:
Oven: 500 degrees to start


1- Dissolve yeast in the water- let sit for 5 mins to activate
2- Mix flour, sugar, and salt together in a medium bowl
3- After 5 mins, make a small hole in the middle of the flour and add the yeast/water, as well as the oil
4- Mix until dough starts to come together. Once it comes together, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-7 mins.
5- Put a small amount of olive oil in a small bowl, put the dough in the bowl, and coat with the oil. Cover dough with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm dry place for 1 hour.
6- After 1 hour, punch dough down to remove air pockets
7- Split dough into 2-4 pieces depending on the size pizzas you want.  I split my dough into two pizzas for two people and this was enough for 2 nights worth of dinner.
8 -Roll the dough into a circle (or rectangle or anything you want) on a lightly floured surface until about a quarter of an inch thick. Roll ends over and push them down to make a crust.
9- Place crusts on a cookie sheet or pizza stone. At this point, you can stretch the dough by hand if you want it a little thinner. Brush crust with olive oil. 
10- Bake in a 500 degree oven for about 10 mins or until slightly crispy. Pierce any air bubbles with a fork.
11- Remove pizzas from oven and at this point, put the sauce and any toppings you want on the pizza
12- Bake pizza in a 450 degree oven until cheese is melted and desired crispiness is attained