Leftover Oatmeal Bread

I've played around with several recipes that use up leftover oatmeal, googled it more times than I care to think about, and yet, the whole time I had sitting in my old recipe box the perfect oatmeal bread recipe. I'm pretty sure I got it at some food storage/self-reliance night at church, and apparently it took me more than a decade to actually try the recipe out. First go at it was back in December (and it was a success), but I found it again because I had unearthed in the freezer some leftover oat groats with apples that - let's face it - were never going to be consumed in their original form again.

This recipe makes a nice, fluffy bread and if your oatmeal is already pre-sweetened, you can just cut down on the honey/molasses in the recipe.

Oatmeal Bread (provenance unknown)
Makes 2 loaves

 1/2 cup warm water
2 tbs. dry yeast
3/4 cup water, boiling
3/4 cup rolled oats [or, just 1 1/2 cups of cooked oatmeal]
1 cup buttermilk [or fake buttermilk - i.e. 1 scant cup milk with 1 tbs lemon juice or vinegar]
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey or molasses [I used golden syrup, 'cause that's what they have here in South Africa]
2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbs salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 - 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

In small bowl, stir yeast into 1/2 cup warm water; allow to stand until yeast dissolves and bubbles up (also known as proofing). In medium saucepan bring 3/4 cup water to boiling, stir in oatmeal and cook several minutes (or dig your leftover oatmeal out of the fridge). Remove from heat; add buttermilk, oil, and honey or molasses (in case you're wondering, I did not re-heat my oatmeal and it turned out okay).
Stir flour, salt, and soda into a large mixing bowl. Add yeast mixture and oats mixture and beat with wire whip or spoon (I used my hand mixer with beaters); let stand 65 minutes. Gradually add enough of remaining flour until dough is stiff enough for kneading. Turn out onto floured surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes or until a soft, elastic ball form. Place dough in clean greased bowl, cover and let rise until double. Punch down dough, divide into two portions, cover and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Form into loaves and place in greased 8x4 in pans. Cover and let rise until double again. Bake at 350 (or 375 - the recipe says somewhere in that range) for 45 to 50 minutes or until done. Remove from oven and turn out to cool on wire rack.

Thyme