Too much rise time? Too much yeast? Not enough kneading?

I am trying to make rolls similar to the famous Amoroso rolls from Philadelphia. I found a recipe that claims to be similar, but I'm having trouble on the execution. I'd appreciate any advice.

The recipe is located here: https://www.rockrecipes.com/homemade-philly-cheesesteak/

On my first attempt, I followed the recipe to a T, but the dough came out very goopy. It could not be worked, because it would not hold any shape.

On my second attempt, I added about 5/8 cup of flour to get the dough to the point where it would clear the mixer bowl. I used the oven heated to about 85 degrees F for the rising/proofing. However, after the second rise, the dough had a very strong scent of alcohol - you could smell it five feet away. Additionally, as soon as I touched any of the formed rolls, the dough just collapsed. I tried baking anyway (per the instructed time/temps). The result was a crust that was very dark and very hard. The inside was soft, but had a strong, damp flavor (maybe the alcohol).

On my third attempt, I only needed to add about 1/4 cup of flour to get the dough workable. I also did all the rising at room temp, on the counter. The first rise I cut to 45 minutes, instead of 1 hr. The second rise I also cut to 45 minutes instead of 1 hr. The scent of alcohol was not nearly as obvious. With that said, the formed rolls still collapsed once touched. I cut the bake time by 10 minutes (now 20 total, instead of 30). Even though the dough had collapsed before baking, the rolls rose again while baking. The crust was much softer. With that said, the interior felt a little chewy. Also, there was still a strong flavor, almost like a beer flavor (is it the alcohol from the fermentation?). The flavor was so strong that it overpowered the flavor of the meat and cheese inside.

Any advice on what I may be doing wrong will be greatly appreciated! I don't have any bread "troubleshooting" experience to be able to determine what I should try if the recipe isn't working; and I don't want to just aimlessly try different variations.

The recipe you linked uses volume instead of weight. I calculated using 1 cup of flour = 128 grams and 1 cup water = 236.6 grams. That recipe is about 80-82% hydration (it says "a little more flour for kneading" so depending on how much you use). That's fairly wet dough but lots of people here make wonderful bread with high hydration dough like that. It requires a technique and I'm not good at it yet. The recipe looks really straightforward like any plain white bread recipe - just a bit on the wet side. However the sentence saying how much yeast to use is confusing (not sure what the 7-8 is referencing - looks like a typo). I would probably use 1 tsp of yeast for that recipe (they call for 2 tsp if not using packet - hopefully the "7-8" typo didn't have you putting 8 tsp of yeast, that would account for your fast ferment) I'd recommend going by weight rather than "cups" since a cup of flour can be a whole lot more or a whole lot less than you meant. there are lots of YouTube videos showing how to knead wet dough - they are amazing to watch the kneading technique and you see this mass of wet goo come together into a lovely dough. here is just one video showing an 80% hydration dough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhmY1lgr694

Thank you very much for the reply. I was also confused by what the 7-8 meant, but I was using 2 1/4 tsp of yeast. The container I have says 2 1/4 tsp = 1 packet, and the recipe called for "about 2." I'll try with just 1 tsp, and look at the videos.

Good luck with it. I still get very frustrated with those really wet doughs. A lot of skill and having the right tools helps (I have neither). I bet that someone comes along with a better recipe for you than the one you linked. I bet you can get what you're after with a little less wet dough - but the method of kneading and bench rest between stretches is probably the secret. Also ... that recipe you linked has a lot of olive oil. While oil doesn't add to the "hydration" it does make the dough feel wetter/goopier. You might try the recipe without the oil and see how you like it - or maybe instead of adding the oil to the dough, just use a little olive oil on your hands when kneading :)