Prep: Heat oven to 400°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with baking parchment OR aluminum foil (see notes).
Tenderize: Place pork chops between two pieces of plastic wrap and very gently pound using a rolling pin or flat side of a meat mallet (you don’t want to flatten them much, you mainly want to tenderize them – 4-5 gentle smacks will do).
Season: Rub chops all over with oil and mustard. Combine brown sugar, ground paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Rub seasoning blend all over chops.
Bake: Bake on middle rack for 12-15 minutes, depending on thickness of chops (about 6 minutes per ½ inch thickness), until they reach an internal temperature of 140°F. Turn oven to broil and broil the pork chops 1-2 minutes, until browned. (Leave chops on middle rack if using parchment. Do NOT put chops close under broiler, unless using aluminum foil or removing parchment first! If broiler runs hotter than your parchment manufacturer allows, remove parchment paper first! If broiler is a small separate compartment, remove parchment paper before placing pork chops there.)
Rest: Remove from the oven and allow chops to rest in the pan for 5 minutes before serving, in order to let temperature rise to 145°F. Do not skip rest!
Notes
Pork chops: I want to stress that your pork chops should be at LEAST 1 inch thick. At least. 1 ¼ inches is even better. If you can only get thin cut chops at the store, consider buying a 2 pound pork loin and cut it into 4 chops yourself (that’s what I mostly do, a 2 pound loin gives me 4 nice and thick chops).
Brown sugar: I use light brown sugar. If you only have white sugar on hand, that’s fine to use, though you may want to reduce the amount to ½ tablespoon.
Mustard: I used a mild, smooth, yellow mustard. If mustard is absolutely not your thing, consider using mayonnaise instead – it works very well, too.
Baking time: I suggest a slightly shorter baking time, because with pork chops it’s better to check early vs too late. Don’t broil them until they reach an internal temperature of 140°F, which can take a couple of minutes longer than the recipe indicates. My pork chops were slightly over 1 inch thick and they baked in 14 minutes.
Broiler/foil: Please DO NOT put the chops too close under your broiler! If your broiler runs hot, you must remove the parchment paper first OR use aluminum foil instead of parchment for safe broiling.
