Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly grease an 8x8 baking dish and set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and pepper.

In a measuring cup, whisk together broth, peanut butter, liquid smoke, and soy sauce until incorporated.

Pour mixture into a bowl with the dry ingredients, and stir gently until well-incorporated and the mixture has formed a soft dough. With your hands, knead gently for 2-3 minutes.

Transfer mixture into a greased baking dish and flatten so it's spread evenly across the entire pan. Use a knife to make one lengthwise cut across the dough, then cut evenly crosswise to make 1-inch slices. You don't need to pull them apart; you just want the ability to easily separate them after grilling.

Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes. While the ribs are baking, heat up your grill or lightly oil a grill pan.

Remove from the oven and brush the top of the ribs with barbecue sauce. Place sauce side down on a heated grill (or grill pan on the stove over medium heat). Brush the top with more barbecue sauce.

When the bottom of the ribs are deeply browned (about 5-6 minutes), flip over and cook the other side until brown. Remove from heat and serve immediately, with more barbecue sauce if desired.