My Very Favorite Pizza Dough

I found this recipe in an old church cookbook and have been using it for years now. Even though I have tried quite a few other pizza crust recipes, I always end up coming back to this one.

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 16
• Yields: 2 Pizzas

Ingredients

• 2  tablespoons  yeast (or 2 pkgs)
• 2  tablespoons sugar
• 2  cups warm water (115-120 degrees)
• 2  teaspoons salt
• 1⁄4 cup  oil (vegetable or olive oil)
• 1⁄2 cup  oat bran (optional)
• 4 1⁄2-6  cups flour (my favorite combination is half bread flour and half whole wheat flour, but I have also used all-pur)
•  cornmeal, for sprinkling pizza pans
•  cooking spray

Directions

1. Mix yeast and sugar and dissolve in warm water. Let stand for about 5 minutes. Add in salt, oil and oat bran, if desired.
2. Mix in 4 1/2 cups of flour. Then continue to add additional flour (up to 6 cups) and knead until dough is smooth and elastic (I use my Kitchenaid with the dough hook attached--dough should clean the side of the bowl).
3. Place into a greased bowl, turning once, cover and allow to rise until dough is doubled in bulk.
4. Prepare 2 large (14 inch or larger) pizza pans by coating them with cooking spray and sprinkling lightly with cornmeal.
5. Punch down and roll dough to fit 2 large pizza pans.
6. Top as desired.
7. For a crust that is crispy on the bottom, place pizza on the bottom rack in a cold oven, set the oven for 500° and bake for about 20 minutes or if the oven is already hot, bake at 500° for 10-15 minutes (watch closely).