Credit: Serious Eats / Jordan Provost

Spreading peanut butter on both slices serves as a protective layer, preventing the jam from turning the bread soggy.

Using 50% more jam than peanut butter provides an ideal balance of sweetness and nutty richness.

A sprinkle of salt balances the fruity filling with a savory note.

I beg your pardon, but you’ll have to allow me a second to process what I’m realizing is an existential moment for me. Apparently today, right now—this second—is the point in my career when I sit down to write about how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Is this how Orson Welles felt when he had to deliver, straight-faced and in his trademark erudite tone, an endorsement for junky supermarket wine? Who am I kidding—he was compensated way better and was at least able to get drunk on that gig. Here I am, sober as a stone and (I’m willing to admit) no Orson Welles.…