"Lunch Lady Rolls" trouble shooting?

Howdy, I made Alabuba's "Lunch Lady Rolls" from http://weightloss-slim.fit/node/19661/lunch-lady-rolls%3C/a%3E and I'm positive I messed something up because they came out of the oven looking like biscuits. They were tender and had good flavor, but no structure to speak of. The crumb reminds me of a muffin, small and tight. I was kneading by hand, measuring my ingredients by weight, and best I can come up with is maybe I didn't knead the dough enough? Aside from 'clears sides of bowl', what characteristics should I be looking for in this, or other rich doughs, when they're trying to show me they're ready? Thanks.