Pizza Crust

I've played around with different recipes for pizza crusts.  Every single time, my hopes are high.  I bite into my freshly baked pizza, only to taste gross, dry, disgusting crust.  Disappointment.  But I finally found one that tastes great!  It was awesome, and even though I had to wait for it to rise, it was totally worth it.  This recipe yields two large pizza crusts, so if you only want to make one pizza, just refrigerate or freeze the other half of the dough before you let it rise. Okay, let's make some pizza.

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Pizza Crust
(adapted from Jay's Signature Pizza Crust on allrecipes.com)

*Yields 2 large pizza crusts

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
3 1/3 cups flour
2 Tbsp melted butter (or olive oil)
Garlic powder to taste

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in water, and let the whole thing sit for about 10 minutes.  If you've never seen yeast dissolve before, sit and watch. It looks pretty neat, in my opinion.
2. Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution.  Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in the rest of the dough until it's smooth and elastic (or just leave it in your kitchen aid and let it do the work).  Divide the dough into two equally-sized balls.  If you're just making one pizza, now's the time to refrigerate or freeze one of the dough balls.  Cover the bowl with a cloth and let it rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour).
4. Punch down the dough and form it into a ball again.  Let it sit for a minute to relax before rolling or stretching it out.  Preheat your oven to 425 while you're waiting.  Lightly oil your pizza pan or cookie sheet, and fill it with the dough.  If you want a puffier crust, just fold the edge back over onto itself and press to keep it in place.  Brush the crust with melted butter or olive oil, and sprinkle the garlic salt over the whole thing.  Let it rise 15-20 minutes more.
5. Top it with your favorite toppings (see here for all kinds of topping ideas) and bake on a low rack in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese and crust are golden brown.
6. Buon appetito!