I agree with natural pb - no added corn syrup. I also like using a cheaper whole wheat bread - same spongy texture as a normal american white bread, but with a but more flavor.

Apple butter I’m split on. I see the main role of the jelly in a pb&j as a lubrication agent to make the pb and bread not choke you to death, and I think you’d need a lot of apple butter to get there. Also, I feel like the milder flavor of the apple butter would be overwhelmed by the pb. I prefer using strawberry preserves as my jelly, which has the additional benefit of adding an aspect of heterogeneity to the sandwich.