Hickory Smoke Paleo BBQ Sauce

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Yummy, thick, spicy BBQ sauce; so full of flavor, you don't want to stop eating it. To me, BBQ sauce is an essential ingredient. It can be used on so many things, and in so many ways! Like last night for example. We had pulled pork sandwiches. Well of course you want BBQ sauce on that! That's half the delicious-ness of pulled pork! Then there's BBQ chicken, BBQ ribs, BBQ polish sausage. The list goes on and on, and BBQ sauce has long since been my quick fix for crazy days when I needed to make a quick meal. So going paleo, I had to set out to find a homemade recipe, and so far, I have yet to find a recipe that actually tasted like BBQ sauce. Quite a shame, that I would have to give up this spicy goodness, this explosion of flavor... Or did I? Every recipe I tried, wasn't bad per se, but it didn't taste like BBQ sauce, and correct me if I'm wrong, but that was the point, was it not? They either tasted too bland, or too much like ketchup, and unless you went mainstream, you might have the flavor down, but it was definitely NOT paleo, and that's not much help... I mean, what the heck is liquid smoke anyway? According to the internet, it's burning sawdust and capturing the components in vegetable oil... Mmmmm, that sounds appetizing... Not! And if you look on the ingredient labels in the store, that's only one of the many stomach churning ingredients in their BBQ sauce. Even the mainstream recipes online call for it. I figured there had to be a more healthy, paleo-friendly way to mimic this taste, and still get that full flavored BBQ sauce my heart so desired. So after much playing around and experimenting with my own recipe, I have had great success, and now pass my heart's desire on to you. I know, I know, it looks like a lot of ingredients, but it's only a little of this, and a little of that. And in the end, your taste buds will thank you, and later, so will your stomach for not pumping it with HFCS and other icky and questionable ingredients. So whip you up a batch tonight and put it on something equally delicious!


Ingredients:
20 oz Bottle of organic, or homemade ketchup
1 Tbls Onion powder
1/2 Tbls Ground pepper
1/2 Tbls Apple cider vinegar
1 tsp Mustard powder/ flour
1 tsp Pure, Grade A Maple syrup
1 tsp Garlic powder
1 tsp Celery salt
1/2 tsp Ground sage
1/2 tsp Chili powder
1/2 tsp Paprika
1/4 tsp Cumin
1/8 tsp Ground ginger
Dash of cinnamon
Dash of cayenne pepper

Directions:
1. In a medium sauce pan over low heat, add each ingredient, stirring after each addition.
2. Once all ingredients are mixed, stir an additional 5 minutes at low-medium heat, making sure it does not boil, but that it becomes quite warm throughout.
3. Place contents in a glass bottle or jar, or you can immediately use in your favorite dish. Store any leftovers in fridge.