Confused over Grandma Peggy's Cornmeal Rolls recipe

Once a friend pointed out that my KitchenAid stand mixer had a dough blade for kneading, I started making more yeast breads and rolls. Our son and his family come over most wednesday mights for "family dinner" and the grandchildren got old enough to notice there was a difference between "real rolls" and "fake" (store bought). Grandma Peggy's recipe is the family favorite and although I've made the recipe dozens of times I am still confused about the amount of flour required (recipe states 3-5 cups) and how sticky the dough is. It seems that if I add at least 5 cups of flour the dough is still very sticky. Instead of adding more flour I have started kneading more flour into the dough (probably at least 1/2 cup) until it is simply less sticky. I have noticed that less flour means a lighter roll.
Does it matter how long I knead the dough?
I think if I only used 3 cups of flour the dough would have to go into muffin cups. Is that really an option?
If this were a King Arthur Flour recipe I could call their wonderful baker's hotline. But, since it is not, would you aim for as little flour as possible to achieve a lighter roll or add more flour to the mixer until the dough is dry enough to work with without making my hands a gluey mess?

Grandma Peggy's Cornmeal Rolls

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